Taming your inner critics

As a person of faith, a spiritual person, I was meditating on a verse from the Bible when I noticed that I was becoming increasingly more frustrated and impatient.

As I examined this frustration, I discovered that this unsettling feeling was coming from my internal critical self. I was hearing thoughts of incomplete and not enough. There were feelings of shame as I began to withdraw, coiling inwardly as I tried to hide.

I was frustrated at how quickly I was overtaken with this feeling of shame and restlessness.

It got me wondering about how I was listening. To whom was I listening?

What was at my core which was interrupting or interfering with my listening?

What was fuelling my evaluation?

Our critical self can sometimes feel like it is who we are.

Often, we can interpret our world, our experiences through these inner critics. Sometimes we can be unaware of them while other times we are aware but feels unable to break free from them.

It reminds me of the Cognitive Behaviour Therapy idea that our inner critics are those negative thoughts driven by the core beliefs we have about ourselves and our world. This influences how we feel and how we evaluate situations.

During my experience above, I was able to notice and made the link between my inner critical self and my emotional reactions. I was able to confront my inner critic.

These inner critics can result in patterns of destructive thoughts toward ourselves and can impact the quality of our life.

Active awareness of and confronting these inner critics are important steps to breaking these cycles or strongholds.

I am wondering about your inner critic, is it interfering with how you interpret or evaluating your world and your experiences?

Counselling can help to identify and challenge these and support you to develop and nurture your true authentic voice.