How Voice Dialogue Can Strengthen the ICF PCC Competencies

Introduction

Voice Dialogue, developed by Hal and Sidra Stone, is a methodology that makes it possible to explore the different “parts” or “selves” that make up the human personality. Through dialogue with these inner voices, the client develops greater self-awareness, widens their possibilities of choice and gains access to new perspectives.

If we look closely at the ICF PCC Core Competencies 2025, a remarkable convergence emerges between professional coaching and Voice Dialogue. Both share the goal of fostering awareness, autonomy, responsibility and growth in the client.

Below we look at how Voice Dialogue can strengthen each of the ICF competencies.

Competency 1: Demonstrates Ethical Practice

Voice Dialogue fosters an approach that deeply respects the uniqueness of the person.

The coach does not interpret, label or pathologize the client’s parts. Every voice is welcomed as the carrier of a positive function and of a specific wisdom.

This attitude supports respect for the ICF ethical principles:

• the client is considered the expert on their own life;
• the coach avoids influencing or directing;
• autonomy and self-determination are respected;
• the coach maintains a non-judgmental attitude.

In Voice Dialogue the coach does not tell the client who they are, but accompanies them in discovering it for themselves.

Competency 2: Embodies a Coaching Mindset

Voice Dialogue requires a presence characterized by:

• genuine curiosity;
• openness to not knowing;
• suspension of judgment;
• trust in the process.

Every part of the client can surprise the coach and bring unexpected information.

The approach also teaches the coach to work continuously on their own “Aware Ego Process”, developing self-awareness and the ability to distinguish what belongs to them from what belongs to the client.

This constant training is an extraordinary practice ground for embodying the coaching mindset required by ICF.

Competency 3: Establishes and Maintains Agreements

Voice Dialogue helps the client to clarify more precisely what they want to achieve.

Often, behind an apparent goal, there are inner parts pursuing different aims:

• one part wants to change;
• another wants safety;
• one wishes to be seen;
• another fears judgment.

By exploring the voices, the client becomes more aware of the inner dynamics that influence their goal.

This facilitates:

Marker 3.1
Identifying what the client wants to achieve.

Marker 3.2
Defining realistic measures of success.

Marker 3.3
Discovering what is truly important and meaningful.

Marker 3.4
Identifying what needs to be addressed in order to reach the goal.

The result is a deeper and more authentic coaching agreement.

Competency 4: Cultivates Trust and Safety

This is probably one of the competencies most strengthened by Voice Dialogue.

The fundamental assumption of the method is that every part has dignity and value.

When the coach welcomes without judgment:

• emotions;
• fears;
• beliefs;
• hidden needs;

the client experiences a strong sense of psychological safety.

Voice Dialogue supports in particular:

Marker 4.1
Recognizing and respecting the client’s uniqueness. Every voice is a unique expression of the client’s experience.

Marker 4.2
Showing empathy and interest. The coach makes deep contact with the subjective experience of the parts.

Marker 4.3
Supporting the expression of feelings and beliefs. Emotions become material for exploration, not something to be corrected.

Marker 4.4
Partnering with the client. The client is always free to confirm, modify or reject the insights that emerge.

Competency 5: Maintains Presence

Voice Dialogue is essentially a practice of presence.

The coach must be carefully attuned to:

• language;
• tone of voice;
• posture;
• energy;
• emotional shifts.

This attention supports all the markers of the competency.

Marker 5.1
Responding to the client’s “who”. The method helps to grasp the complexity of the person beyond the problem.

Marker 5.2
Responding to the “what”. The different parts clarify the client’s relationship with the goal.

Marker 5.3
Co-creating the path of the session. The client leads the exploration.

Marker 5.4
Showing genuine curiosity. Curiosity is the very engine of Voice Dialogue.

Marker 5.5
Using silence. Pauses play a fundamental role in fostering contact and integration.

Competency 6: Listens Actively

Voice Dialogue greatly expands the quality of listening.

The coach learns to listen to:

• words;
• emotions;
• energy;
• bodily changes;
• inner perspectives.

This directly supports all the markers.

Marker 6.1
Tailoring the questions. Every question arises from what emerges in the session.

Marker 6.2
Exploring the client’s words. Words become doorways to the inner parts.

Marker 6.3
Exploring emotions. A central element of the work.

Marker 6.4
Exploring energy and non-verbal cues. Moving from one voice to another produces observable changes.

Marker 6.5
Exploring self-perception. The different parts reveal different images of the self and of the world.

Marker 6.6
Making space for the client. The client’s voice remains predominant.

Marker 6.7
Reflecting and summarizing. Summaries help the client to integrate the different perspectives that have emerged.

Competency 7: Evokes Awareness

This is probably the ICF competency most directly connected to Voice Dialogue.

The entire method is designed to facilitate insight, expanded awareness and new perspectives.

Marker 7.1
Exploring values, needs, beliefs and behaviors. Every voice expresses a particular configuration of these elements.

Marker 7.2
New ways of perceiving oneself. The client discovers being far more than their habitual identities.

Marker 7.3
New ways of perceiving the situation. Reality is observed from multiple perspectives.

Marker 7.4
Going beyond habitual patterns. Polarities become resources for generating new possibilities.

Marker 7.5
Sharing observations and insights without attachment. The coach can offer observations about the parts that have emerged, leaving the client free to explore them.

Markers 7.6 and 7.7
Clear questions and simple language. Essential elements for facilitating the dialogue among the voices.

Marker 7.8
Letting the client lead the conversation. In Voice Dialogue the protagonist always remains the client.

Competency 8: Facilitates Client Growth

Voice Dialogue does not stop at awareness: it fosters integration and conscious choice.

When clients recognize their own parts, they:

• widen their behavioral repertoire;
• reduce automatic reactions;
• develop greater freedom of decision.

This supports all the markers of the competency.

Marker 8.1
Assessing progress. The client recognizes what has changed in their inner system.

Marker 8.2
New learning about themselves. One of the most frequent outcomes of Voice Dialogue.

Marker 8.3
New learning about the situation. The different voices offer different readings of reality.

Marker 8.4
Applying the learning. The client identifies how to use their new awareness.

Marker 8.5
Designing actions and reflections. The parts can become allies in the action plan.

Marker 8.6
Considering resources and obstacles. The inner voices highlight both resources and resistances.

Marker 8.7
Promoting personal responsibility. The “Aware Ego Process” increases the capacity for responsible choice.

Marker 8.8
Celebrating progress and learning. Acknowledging new awareness reinforces change.

Marker 8.9
Letting the client close the session. The closing arises from the client’s reflections and decisions.

Conclusion

The ICF competencies and Voice Dialogue share the same vision of the human being: a whole person, rich in resources and capable of growth through greater awareness.

Voice Dialogue is therefore much more than a technique. It is a way of being present that helps the coach to:

• listen more deeply;
• respect the client’s complexity;
• facilitate transformative insight;
• support more conscious choices;
• promote sustainable growth.

For an ICF coach, Voice Dialogue can become an extremely effective tool for expressing the PCC competencies in a concrete and natural way, turning every conversation into a space of authentic exploration, awareness and personal development.

Based on the PCC markers of the ICF Core Competencies 2025.