I need a psychologist's advice about the MBTI (i'm an INFP)?

Question

I hear it is healthy for people to properly develop their secondary functions (mine would be Extroverted Intuition). My question is, what are some examples of extroverting intuition? What activities can I partake in to train myself? Can you point me to some resources please?

Answer 1

You're right that it's healthy for people to develop their secondary functions (I'm a bit of an MBTI buff, by the way) but the first task is to be effective and happy with your primary ones ... my guess is that you are. But actually your shadow functions are extraverted sensing - apologies to the rest of the readers, no time for an essay to explain the jargon - which means being aware of what's happening in the here and now of the outside world. So the advice would be activities like: more socialising with big groups of people; anything that develops observation and probably physical co-ordination, like sports, exercise, etc.; if your job or hobbies demand lots of attention to detail with figures, proof-reading, computing, etc., maybe you need to brush up on those. A good book is Gifts Differing, by Keirsey and Bates, which has just been re-published in a larger revised version; plus whoever did the testing that told you you were an INFP ought to have given you some useful material about developing the shadow side.

Enjoy the journey.

Answer 2

I'm not a psychologist, but I'll jump in and try to answer this question anyway. (By the way, I'm INTP)

I would think that practicing extroverting intuition would mean that you use your intuitive talents in in public. You may want to start with a few close friends, and then work up to larger groups of people. Probably a less threatening way to do this is online, which is what I choose to do.

There are many ways to tap into your intuition, but here is one that has worked for me:

Relax and take a few deep breaths. When you are ready, visualize yourself getting onto a bus filled with people. Imagine that you are walking up to one of the people (don't worry about who you walk up to, you will intuitively know who to choose.) Ask this person to get off of the bus with you. Imagine that you and this person are someplace safe and peaceful. Now you can ask the person whatever questions you have. Trust that he or she will answer you. When you are done talking to the person, thank him or her and lead him/her back to the bus.

Whatever you hear or perceive during that conversation is your intuition speaking to you. Some people see visual pictures, others hear words or see words spelled out. Still others sense images and feelings but don't get complete pictures. Whatever you receive from your intuition is good. The more you practice, the more refined it will become.

Good luck!