Interviewing the Internalized Other and the Distributed Self

Abstract

A unique psychotherapeutic method of Internalized Other Interviewing (IOI) has emerged over the last 35 years. It is based on a social constructionist and bringforthist perspective in which a person as a self-aware individual is seen to arise through a rich history of interaction with other human beings. If a therapist can apply this understanding and conceive of the self as constituted by an internalized community in one's memory, it becomes coherent to interview any member of that inner community as an internalized other within the client. As a result, the possibilities for intervention in a client's relationships are expanded. If the IOI method is used in the presence of the actual other in conjoint work, the latter could meet their distributed self as they exist in the interviewee, and even more change possibilities arise. This paper focuses on applying the method in clinical practice using examples, transcripts, and commentary.