Pilar Sordo: “Inner dialogue is a powerful tool for self-knowledge and self-care”

“Inner dialogue is a powerful tool for self-knowledge and self-care,” Pilar Sordo said in a conversation with LA NACION. The Chilean psychologist and writer presented conclusions from eight years of research into emotional stability and language, arguing that the way people speak to themselves directly affects their mental health.

“I concluded that the most basic unit of mental health is inner dialogue,” Sordo said. In her view, the way a person talks to themselves shapes self-esteem and their vision of the world. It also influences confidence and the ability to withstand uncertainty. She encouraged people to pay attention to their personal narratives because the way they tell their own story affects both psychological health and social relationships.

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Inner dialogue is a powerful tool for self-knowledge and self-care.

Sordo rejects the idea that personality consists of fixed traits. “We change all the time,” she said, adding that it would be sad if experiences did not change people. She described identity as dependent on circumstances: someone may feel anxious in one situation and extremely calm in another, or be organised in some areas and disorganised in others.

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I concluded that the most basic unit of mental health is inner dialogue.

The psychologist said personal development requires accepting vulnerability. That process allows people to move beyond rigid structures and embrace new ways of being. Successful maturation, she argued, comes from integrating external changes with inner reality.

Sordo also warned that excessive reliance on technology and visual resources is degrading contemporary vocabulary. Citing psychiatrist José Luis Marín, she said, “We become ill from a lack of vocabulary.” A smaller vocabulary can prevent people from expressing complex feelings accurately and leave them frustrated. “We are speaking less. We are using less vocabulary when we speak,” she said.

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We change all the time.

For Sordo, a genuine conversation requires a willingness to be transformed by what the other person says. Otherwise, she warned, it becomes “a kind of intermittent monologue.” Her broader message was direct: “Growing hurts.” Rather than escaping every uncomfortable situation, people must remain open to crises if they are to mature.

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Growing hurts.