Nearly everyone has negative internal self–talk at times; some of us have this internal chatter going on almost all the time. An internal voice may remind us of past failures, sorrows, or disappointments, torture us with criticism or verbal abuse, describe frightening or unpleasant futures, or distur b us in other ways. "You failed miserably" "What a loser I am." "I'll never succeed." "Life is a crock." "My life is over." Typically this kind of internal voice causes unpleasant feelings, which are not very helpful in reaching goals and succeeding in life. You can probably easily think of some time in your life when an internal voice did this, putting you into an unpleasant state. These bad feelings can be the root cause of a very wide variety of problems, some of them quite serious and long–term. In this book we're going to show how these inner voices can be transformed, and the positive impact that can make in many areas of our lives.

"Nothing I can do will make a difference" in a low, slow voice can easily result in depression. "I'm think I'm about to die" in a rapid, high–pitched tempo can result in anxiety or panic. "Those bastards are out to kill me," in a low angry tone can result in violence or paranoia. Often someone's unpleasant feelings are so strong that they don't notice that they are in response to what an internal voice is saying.

The realization that everyone hears internal voices is relatively recent. Not so long ago, most psychiatrists thought that hearing voices was a sign of psychosis, and a few still do. A patient would report hearing voices, and the psychiatrist would say to himself internally, "Hmmn, this guy is hearing voices; he must be nuts," without realizing that he was also hearing a voice, and without — in most cases — being nuts himself!