Models

[Schizo Stroller]

No, I'm not going to talk about supermodels, i was just wondering if anyone new about a up-coming theory on voice hearing in which the personalities who talk to us are in the form of a 'model'.

I'll explain it a bit, but first i think, and this is my opinion, that the term 'model' was used to distinguish it from 'personality' to stop people getting confused with all the folk assumptions about split-personalities etc.

But basically the idea is that our voices come from projections of our fears, experiences, traumas etc onto a distinct, and I'll use personality here but they use model (although model has meaning in the sense that this personality is part of us hence a model of a personality not a seperate being). This model has access to our knowledge, or those parts of our knowledge that we unconsciously allow it access to. It also has access to our own unconscious and i'll explain from a personal experience; I have a voice that is a nasty woman, I won't say what I've named her, but she embodies my fears of ignorant people however as a model she is created out of my prejudices of the type of ignorant person I fear - irrational and bigoted and dogmatic (why she's a woman is a long psychoanalytical story), for example she's a Daily Mail reader based on my prejudices of what sort of person would swallow that poisonous crap.

But the theory takes this idea of a projection of our insecurities and turns it into voices by making the model autonomous, in a sense, a sense that becomes real to us, the model acts independently from us but with access to our thoughts, knowledge, emotions etc (and this is why they have had to be careful to distinguish it from a personality). We do not turn into this personality, it is us, just a part of us we have externalised and allowed to become autonomous.


However this is the extent of my knowledge of this theory and I was wondering if anyone knew more about it, key names might help.

Also as fellow voice hearers what do people think of this idea?

[sara]

Hi - I don't know about the theory as such that you are talking about. But certainly I know a few people for whom that fits and have talked to people about it but using different words. I think there is something in the idea that, for some people, voices may relate to our unconscious and projections we migt make. I remember one person who had a part of him he'd sort of externalised because it hated his mum and he lived with her so needed to live without that part of her.

For me, I also sometimes refer to different parts of myself - some parts need looking after a bit, some are quite ****y, some more fun. This is fairly conscious and can help me to manage some situations or to reflect on myself.

I don't usually hear voices - although I have sometimes.
elsewhere on the site i have spoken about the zebra talking to me and telling me that things would be ok - that could well have been a part of me that needed to step outside of me to reassure and look after me.

really good to hear about your interesting ideas.