One phrase I have fun with and my clients relate to
is "The Committee." Often times there is more than one gremlin or
multiple issues. Any technique that separates the narration to give the
client a different perspective is good... and I like the humor in this
one, especially for corporate clients.
The Enemy
The Aggravator
The Assassin
Mom!
The Inner Editor
The Inner Critic
The Judge
The introjected/introjects (pick your poison for the noun here -
could be Mother, Father, Sister, Brother, Teacher, Professor, etc)
Your inner voice - the one that tells you 'you're not
good enough'
Your ego
- This is not the Freudian ego, but the spiritual ego or darkness.
Dad :-)
The Shadow
Lambchop - 'Cuz it reminds me of Sherri Lewis' puppet
that was always talking back!!! :-)
Monkey mind (from Maria Nemeth's book The Energy of
Money)
VOJ - Voice of Judgment (from a book called Creativity
in Business)
-
Beezer - cuz he never lets you be
-
The Talking Head
-
The Idiot in the House (from Faulkner)
-
B*tch
-
Shut up! Although that is more of a response to the "The
Voice"
-
My clients and I always select names - for example; I
had a client from the South of the US that always heard in her head that
she shouldn't work, that she shouldn't be a vp that was a mans job, that
she should have make up on, wear a dress etc. So we spoke to "The
Southern Belle".
-
Another client named theirs "Godzilla"
-
One of my all time client favorites is "public enemy
number one"
-
Self-talk
-
Inner dialogue
-
Supraconsciousness - Some say "superconsciousness" since
they are at the point
of transiting higher yet.
-
Automatic thoughts
-
"ME"
-
In Jewish tradition that "evil" voice in the head is
called "Yetzer Hora" which is translated as the evil inclination - the
desire to lead us away from what we should be doing. This is not only
about choosing from good and evil (although that is the most blatant
example) but the Yetzer Hora is often dressed up in the garments of
complete righteousness. So for example when there are two options, each
would be a good thing but in reality one will lead you away from your
more important task...
-
Inner Critic (see Hal and Sidra Stone's Embracing
Your Inner Critic)
-
Monkey Mind (see Guatama Buddha and his followers....)
-
The Judge Within (see Byron Brown's Soul without
Shame)
-
Shadow Selves, Dark Side (see David Richo's Shadow
Dance)
-
The Swamp Thing (see John Davis's The Diamond
Approach: an Introduction to the Teachings of A.H. Almaas)
-
Trance of Unworthiness/Inner Stories (see Tara Brach's
Radical Acceptance)
-
Shadow Artists, Poisonous Playmates, Crazymakers (see
Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way)
-
"Aunt Alma"
-
Self-Serving Attitudes
-
Unproductive Cliques
-
Grumbling
-
Scapegoating
-
Unnecessary Sick Leave
-
Wasted Time
-
Mediocre Job Performance
-
Employee Turnover
-
The tapes or voices in your head
-
I often use the term "Censor." (I picked this up from
Julia Cameron in The Artist's Way.)
-
Those Silent Conversations
-
The Hum of the Machinery
-
My name is Pat, so I refer to it as "WPAT, all Pat, all
the time, 24 hours-commercial free". For you, I might call it WBZ. It's
a fun way to name the narrator. Clients seem to get it and enjoy it.
-
negative narrator
-
chattering monkey
-
lower self
-
The Guardian
-
grey dog (as opposed to "white dog" of higher self).
-
Saboteur
-
N.I.C.E. - Needy, Insecure, Cautious, Exploited (or
Exploitable)
-
In the UK this year the image of a gremlin has been used
in a TV and poster campaign to encourage people to improve their
literacy and numeric skills. They are followed by this ugly creature
all the time who makes himself known to them when want to read a bed
time story and can't or try and avoid doing a task at work because they
don't have the skills they need. This campaign has not been very well
liked by basic skills tutors who wonder if it is the right way to
encourage already frightened people into seeking help.
-
And after "Lord of the Rings" some of my clients are
using the Gollum! Others are using Smeagol.
-
Protector
-
Vulnerability
-
Need for safety
-
Need for connection
-
Frightened inner child
-
the squatter... comes in and invades
without invitation, then can't be got rid of.
-
Major General
-
Weasel
-
I like the Asian use of the dragon.
-
In performance and art circles, it's called the Inner
Critic. I've also heard it called "tapes".
-
During a presentation I was using the analogy of
"hearing voices", in reference to self talk, and that it's common for
all of us. One young man said "I have an entire committee in my head and
they're all talking at once." So it's important to remember that
Gremlins, when gathering, often form committees with a fair amount of
dissention!
-
I say the little voice in your head or on your shoulder
that you have to firmly say, "Thank you for your input and now I am
going to take positive action!"
-
I call it the Critical Voice.
-
The running commentary
-
The "Voice"
-
Babba Yaga --- I ended up dancing with her after she
jumped out of the woods to scare me. She cackled, laughed and pointed
her finger at me like a "mad" woman saying, "who do you think you are?"
-
Jackal, snarling and barking at me, trying to stop me
from taking the next step. He was afraid for me. --- He turned into a
beautiful Irish Setter that sits beside me now. Every time he gets
afraid, I put my arm around him and draw him close to me to calm and
comfort him.
-
Sister Critical
-
Keeper of the status quo
-
Fabricator
-
Resister
-
Guilt Brigade
-
The Terminator
-
The Chatterbox
... is now ... 
