Have you ever heard yourself say...
“Part of me really wants THIS, but another part of me is really concerned about THAT.”
Or, “The adventurous part of me is so excited to move to another country, but the responsible part of me is freaked out.”
Or, have you heard your inner critic say, "You're not good enough. Everyone will think you're stupid if you do that."
These are examples of the myriad of “selves” we each have within us and how sometimes they create internal conflict. Our different "selves" each develop for a reason, the more critical ones have commonly developed to keep us safe and help us fit into our environment when we were young. Often though, there comes a point when some of these voices no longer serve us or their habits get in the way of us living the way we want to. Sometimes the "selves" or “voices” are so much a part of our habitual way of thinking that we hardly notice them and sometimes they are so loud that we can't hear anything else.
So, what is Voice Dialogue?
Voice Dialogue is a method developed by psychologists Hal and Sidra Stone used to get to know your different inner selves. I offer Voice Dialogue with coaching as a way of facilitating a deeper awareness of these selves and also to help you “separate” from them and recognize that they are just parts of you, not the whole of you. They don't get to determine your choices, you do! In a Voice Dialogue session I'll separately interview 2 different selves (of your choosing) as if they were their own person. We'll see what information they have to offer about you or any given situation you are dealing with and from there we'll come back to YOU and have a conversation about what you learned and how you want to move forward.
Sound a little crazy?
When I was first introduced to Voice Dialogue, I thought so too! However, I've personally found it so useful in understanding some of the different "tapes that play in my head" and have even learned to appreciate some of the more critical selves for their good intentions. I also find that with some Voice Dialogue work the more negative selves tend to quiet down a bit and I'm free from the crippling effect of selves that say things like, "You can't do that, everyone will think you're an idiot." As a coach, I love facilitating Voice Dialogue and my clients tell me that it is one of the most insightful and useful parts of our coaching together.