The Inner Judge in Body-Mind Therapy: How Our Moral Awareness Evolves
- Enrico Fonte
- Sep 19
- 5 min read
Almost everyone, when having to make an important decision, hears an inner voice. Sometimes it’s a whisper saying, “This is not right”, other times it’s a cry accusing, “You did wrong, you must do better”.
This voice doesn’t come out of nowhere: it is our inner judge, a part of us that evaluates our behavior and decides whether it is “right” or “wrong.”
In psychology, this voice is called the Superego. In Body-Mind Therapy, however, the Superego is not seen only as a mental concept, but as something that lives in the body: you can feel it in tense muscles, blocked breathing, and in a posture that has become rigid. It is the result of lived experiences, internalized rules, and significant relationships in our lives.
This “voice” is not always the same. It changes with us. It may begin as a harsh, punitive authority that controls us through fear or guilt and, over time, become a wise and compassionate guide.
In other words, our sense of good and evil evolves, moving from simple, rigid forms to more complex forms capable of including different points of view.
Why Body-Mind Therapy Works with the Inner Judge
The goal is not to “silence” it, but to understand where it comes from and how it was formed. Each version of the inner judge is linked to a stage of life and a specific way of protecting ourselves.
Therapeutic work aims to transform it: from a voice that punishes and limits to an inner guide that supports and directs.
The Seven Stages of the Inner Judge
In Body-Mind Therapy, the inner judge develops through seven stages. Each represents a different way of thinking about good and evil, a different level of complexity, and openness toward others.
This perspective is also inspired by the studies of Lawrence Kohlberg, who described how human morality evolves from simple forms to increasingly elaborate ones.
Each stage has a judging part (the inner judge) and a judged part (the part of us that suffers, reacts to, or dialogues with that judgment).
Judging part: the alpha animal – Fear-based Superego
Judged part: the inner animal
(Kohlberg: pre-conventional morality, stage 1 – obedience to avoid punishment)
The inner judge acts like a pack leader imposing its will by force. One obeys to avoid punishment or harm. The body is in constant alert: shoulders tense, short breathing, muscles ready to react.
Example: a child who doesn’t take a cookie because they fear being scolded by the adult.
Judging part: the inner parents – Affective guilt Superego
Judged part: the inner child
(Kohlberg: pre-conventional morality, stage 2 – acting for personal interest and to maintain bonds)
The fear here is no longer of physical punishment but of losing affection. One is “good” to avoid disappointing loved ones or to prevent rejection. In the body, this can appear as a closed chest and held breath, as if protecting against a possible loss.
Example: doing a favor only to avoid being excluded from the group.
Judging part: the external judge – Social norm Superego
Judged part: the hero/soldier
(Kohlberg: conventional morality, stage 3 – desire to be considered “good people”)
The inner voice here reflects social rules. “We do this because others expect it” becomes the guiding principle. The body moves in a controlled way, avoiding gestures perceived as inappropriate.
Example: following a ritual only because “it’s tradition,” even without believing in it.
Judging part: the inner judge – Traditional Superego
Judged part: the sovereign
(Kohlberg: conventional morality, stage 4 – respect for law and social order)
In this stage, the rules are internalized. They are no longer followed automatically but are still seen as the will of an omnipotent and omniscient god who created them and wrote them in a sacred book (Bible, Qur’an, Bhagavad Gita, etc.). The body is more open, although tensions linked to responsibility may persist.
Example: recognizing that a law is unjust but respecting it anyway because it is “God’s will.”
Judging part: the success manager – Performative Superego
Judged part: the champion athlete
(Kohlberg: early post-conventional morality – social contract)
Ethics here is intertwined with the concept of “doing well” and “achieving results.” One is morally valid if they reach goals. The body appears energetic but under constant pressure.
Example: believing oneself to be a “good person” because of excelling at work or in sports.
Judging part: the ideological judge – Ethical Superego
Judged part: the revolutionary
(Kohlberg: advanced post-conventional morality – universal rights)
The inner voice is fueled by ideals: justice, freedom, rights. This is a mature stage, but it can remain disconnected from bodily and relational experience. The risk is to proclaim values without embodying them, creating a gap between saying and doing.
Example: defending freedom of speech while excluding those with different opinions.
Judging part: the true inner master – Integrated Superego
Judged part: the wise elder
(Kohlberg: post-conventional morality – universal ethical principles)
The inner judge no longer punishes: it guides. Choices arise from deep coherence felt in the body as calm and openness. Good and evil are no longer imposed rules but embodied experiences.
Example: acting for the good of all, even at personal cost.
The Path in Body-Mind Therapy
In therapy, we do not seek to erase the inner judge but to accompany it in its evolution. When it becomes a “true inner master,” one acts with integrity not out of fear or need for approval, but from an authentic sense of connection and respect. This is a long and demanding process that can last a lifetime.
Meanwhile, guilt can be addressed with a reality check, using Enrico’s 3 basic moral and ethical rules and the corollary on the limits of consent.
Judging part: the basic moral and ethical rulesJudged part: our conscience under examination
Am I harming myself?
Respect for one’s own physical, psychological, emotional, and social integrity. Self-inflicted harm, even when disguised as compliance or forced adaptation, undermines the sense of personal value.
Am I harming another person?
Relationship is a sacred space: consent must be free, informed, reversible, and unmanipulated. Moral harm often stems not from the action itself, but from the lack of respect for the other’s subjectivity.
Am I harming the environment?
The environment is part of our collective body. Damaging it breaks the bond with embodied reality, generating alienation and loss of meaning.
Corollary: if you and the other person cannot give free and conscious consent to harming each other, the action is not ethically valid. This includes extreme sports, risky consensual sexual practices, and dangerous performing arts.
However, it does not override the three previous rules: the environment cannot “consent,” minors and animals cannot understand consequences, and consent is not valid in altered states (sleep, alcohol, drugs).
Final thought:
When the judging part and the judged part learn to dialogue, the inner judge transforms from jailer to guide and protector, and morality becomes a living path toward inner freedom and the realization of higher ideals.
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