Voice dialogue

Domain III · Humanistic, existential & experiential · Hal Stone, Sidra Stone · 1972

What it is

Voice Dialogue is a method more than a stand-alone therapy. The Stones developed it from 1972 out of their own relationship, not in a clinic, and present it as compatible with most psychological systems. Its theory, the Psychology of Selves, holds that personality is a set of "selves"…

Format

• There is no fixed number of sessions or phase manual in the sources used. Below are (a) the structure of a single session, which the Stones describe as 10 steps, and (b) the course of work over time, which is ordered by the sources but not given as numbered phases.
• Format. Individual sessions run at least 1.5 hours where possible, so that selves can come forward fully and there is time to re-centre. Couples sessions are conjoint, with one partner facilitated while the other watches. Group format means 3–12 people over 2.5–3 hours (Pangaia). Recording sessions…

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Wolff's training version of one session runs: centre → primary self → centre (gifts and limits) → opposite self → centre → Awareness position (standing) → optional energy-dialling exercise → closing "conscious linkage".
• Version followed: Hal Stone and Sidra Stone's Voice Dialogue within their Psychology of Selves and Aware Ego Process, as set out in their 1994 four-article series for Psychotherapy in Australia (the 10-step method), their "Basic Elements" summary (Albion, 2007), and facilitation notes from their training community (M.-L. Wolff; J. Pangaia; Elich & Stamboliev 2013). Embracing Our Selves: The Voice Dialogue Manual…

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• Does it involve intense or unusual breathing? Have you been told about the medical conditions for which that is not advised?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• How do you and the practitioner understand what is happening, in spiritual or cultural terms? Is that a source of comfort, worry, or both?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• The sources opened describe goals, not detailed exercises.
• No felt difference between the centre and the self (see 4.3).
• The meeting becoming one partner's Controller running the other.
• Several selves blending in one chair. That muddies the separation.
• The client hearing this as blame. Frame it as information, not as an accusation.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.