Many of us live with an inner dialogue that may not be helpful or kind. Or you may have a harsh inner critic who doesn’t believe that you are enough as you are – it thinks you need to work and work and work to get there. This voice comes from a place of support and love – it just goes about trying to support you in the wrong way
the wrong way.
When we have a critical inner voice, this has a profound impact on how we view ourselves and how we make meaning. As children, we look for love and interpret messages from parents, school, friendships, and bullies. A harsh critic is always in our ears, influencing how we are and how we behave. The right and wrongs we learn lead us to try to be good, the best at school, and be lovable. If we do everything right, we’ll be loved, safe, and belong. It shuts down the part of us that might make us disliked or unloved, in a misguided attempt to protect and love us.
To build our self-worth and work with, rather than against, our inner critic, we need to learn skills to regulate and sit with our emotions. We need to build up self-compassion, an inner champion that can challenge our inner critic.
When we are more regulated, we have more power to confront and turn towards our critic, question it, laugh at it, and slowly disengage from it. Show it compassion, and try to understand how it’s trying to help.
Please contact me to book a first assessment session.