What’s in a Name? Addressing possible bias in the Voice Dialogue technique

The process used for naming Selves in Voice Dialogue may have an important impact on the likely success of developing the Aware Ego Process (AEP) to integrate both Primary and Disowned Selves. I review 15 cases from decades of working with clients, and find the names that clients selected to identify Selves tended to reinforce their existing bias towards the Primary Selves, and increased dismissal of the energies of the Disowned Selves, hindering the goal of the AEP. To remove this naming bias and increase the success of the AEP, I propose several methods for identifying and naming Selves in an early client session. Importantly, the naming process should take place when the client is in their aware ego position rather than when they are embodying one of their Primary Selves, which will tend to defensively paint themselves in an overly positive light. I have developed two processes, where the client sculpts with colorful modeling clay or sorts a deck of cards with names of archetypal selves, to quickly identify those they like and associate with positive personality traits (Primary Selves), and those which are not valued (Disowned Selves). Using these methods can support less biased names, which promotes the client’s ability to stop over-relying on the Primary Selves and allows greater influence from the Disowned Selves, an important step forward in Voice Dialogue.