(Namespace: plural glossary)

An internal self-helper is a headmate who possesses enhanced introspective emotional wisdom and can provide guidance to the rest of the system in pursuing healthy multiplicity, final fusion, or other goals.

An internal self-helper is usually, but not always, a gatekeeper, or at least capable of internal communication and/or passive influence. They may be, but are not always, a protector, and/or the core.

“Internal self-helper” is terminology originating from the therapeutic model of internal family systems, which was implicated in the Alsana Castlewood tragedy. For this reason, even some systems who have headmates who could be called internal self-helpers still choose not to use this word.