What Is Voice Dialogue?

Voice Dialogue is a facilitated conversation in which a person speaks as different parts of their personality, one at a time, so that they can understand each part and develop an "Aware Ego" that is not dominated by any single one. It was developed from the early 1970s by Hal Stone, PhD, and Sidra Stone, PhD, who called the underlying theory the Psychology of Selves.¹1 Voice Dialogue International (voicedialogue.org) is the Stones' own organisation and the primary source for the method's vocabulary.

The vocabulary

• Selves (or sub-personalities). Relatively consistent patterns of thought, feeling and behaviour — for example a Pusher who drives productivity, a Pleaser who keeps the peace, an Inner Critic who anticipates judgement.
• Primary selves. The selves a person most identifies with. They usually developed early to protect vulnerability, and they tend to run daily life.
• Disowned selves. The opposites of the primary selves — qualities that were pushed away. In the Stones' model they often show up as strong reactions to other people who display them.
• The Vulnerable Child. The sensitive core that many primary selves are arranged to protect.
• The Aware Ego (Aware Ego Process). Not another self, but a developing capacity to feel the pull of opposite selves at once and to choose, rather than automatically obey whichever is loudest.²2 Practitioners describe the Aware Ego as a process rather than a fixed state; it is expected to keep changing.

What a session conceptually involves

Descriptions from the method's own literature follow a broadly similar shape. A facilitator talks first with the person as they usually are, then invites them to move physically — often to a different chair or spot — and speak as a particular self. The facilitator interviews that self with curiosity, not to fix or remove it. The person then returns to a central position, and the facilitator helps them notice the difference between the self and their own awareness of it. Opposite selves may be visited in turn.

This is a description of the method's structure, not instructions. Voice Dialogue facilitation is a trained skill, and the conversation can bring up strong material.

How it relates to other parts approaches

Voice Dialogue belongs to a family of approaches that treat the mind as multiple. It is related to, but distinct from:

• Internal Family Systems (IFS), developed by Richard Schwartz, which describes managers, firefighters and exiles around a core "Self" and is practised as a psychotherapy.³3 The IFS Institute (ifs-institute.com) maintains the model's own description.
• Gestalt "empty chair" work, which also uses physical position and dialogue.
• Ego-state and schema approaches used by some clinicians.

These are not interchangeable. They differ in theory, training, and in how much research supports them. Our inner-parts guide compares them in more detail.

What the evidence does and doesn't say

Voice Dialogue has a long practitioner literature but very little controlled research of its own; we are not aware of randomised trials testing it as a treatment for any condition. IFS has a small but growing research base — for example, a 2013 randomised trial in people with rheumatoid arthritis reported improvements in pain and self-compassion measures — but that does not transfer to Voice Dialogue.⁴4 Shadick et al., Journal of Rheumatology, 2013 (PubMed 23950186). Treat claims that any parts method resolves trauma or "years of therapy in hours" with caution.

When licensed support is useful

If inner conflict comes with persistent low mood, panic, flashbacks, self-harm thoughts, substance use or relationship violence, a self-guided method is not enough. A licensed mental-health professional can assess what is going on and recommend an evidence-based treatment. In Colorado you can check a provider's licence through the state's Division of Professions and Occupations. In a crisis, call or text 988.

Sources

1. Voice Dialogue International — Hal and Sidra Stone. https://www.voicedialogue.org/
2. IFS Institute — What is Internal Family Systems? https://ifs-institute.com/
3. Shadick NA, et al. A randomized controlled trial of an internal family systems-based psychotherapeutic intervention on outcomes in rheumatoid arthritis. J Rheumatol. 2013. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23950186/
4. GoodTherapy — Voice Dialogue web conference (2011, historical CE listing). https://www.goodtherapy.org/for-professionals/webinar/voice-dialogue-web-conference.html
5. NIMH — Help for mental illnesses. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/find-help