Hierarchy

Hierarchy, in the humanist sense, is one of the deepest patterns that wounds us — because it shapes how we see ourselves, others, and what we are “allowed” to be.

• Hierarchy creates separation: It says some are above, some are below. Worth becomes ranked instead of inherent.

• Internalized hierarchy: We don’t just experience it externally (parent/child, boss/worker, man/woman) — we internalize it. Parts of us dominate other parts: the critic over the child, the armour over the tender self.

• Wounds of worth: Many trauma beliefs (“I am not enough,” “I am too much”) are rooted in hierarchical conditioning. We learned love was conditional on being higher, better, quieter, stronger.

• Perpetuation: Those wounded by hierarchy often recreate it — in families, workplaces, even within their own healing. The system lives on until it’s named and undone.

• Healing: Humanism seeks to dissolve hierarchy — to meet person-to-person, being-to-being. In therapy, this means flattening the power dynamic: not expert vs. patient, but two humans in dialogue.

So hierarchy drives our wounds by teaching us that dignity is earned, not innate. It perpetuates them when we continue to measure worth in ladders and comparisons. Healing begins when hierarchy gives way to presence — where no one is above, no one below.