Inner critic

The inner critic often produces feelings of shame, deficiency, low self-esteem, and depression.{{cite web |title=Understanding the Inner Critic {{!}} Psychology Today |url=https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/human-inner-dynamics/202312/understanding-the-inner-critic |website=www.psychologytoday.com |access-date=10 November 2024 |language=en}}{{cite book |last=Gilbert |first=Paul |author-link=Paul Gilbert (psychologist) |date=2009 |orig-year=1998 |title=Overcoming depression: a self-help guide using cognitive behavioral techniques |edition=3rd |series=Overcoming series |location=New York |publisher=Basic Books |isbn=9780465015085 |oclc=435672915 }}{{Page needed|date=July 2015}} It may also cause self-doubt and undermine self-confidence. It is common for people to have a harsh inner critic that is debilitating.{{Cite web|title=4 Ways to Overcome Your Inner Critic|url=http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/compassion-matters/201305/4-ways-overcome-your-inner-critic|access-date=2020-06-13|website=Psychology Today|language=en-US}}

Neville Symington suggested that such a severely critical inner object is especially noticeable in narcissism.{{cite book|last=Symington|first=Neville|title=Narcissism: a new theory|date=1993|publisher=Karnac|isbn=1855750473|location=London|pages=108-110|oclc=29518137|author-link=Neville Symington}}

Jay Earley and Bonnie Weiss have labeled seven types of inner critics—the perfectionist, the taskmaster, the inner controller, the guilt tripper, the destroyer, the underminer, and the molder.{{cite book |last1=Earley |first1=Jay |author-link1=Jay Earley |last2=Weiss |first2=Bonnie |date=2010 |title=Self-therapy for your inner critic: transforming self-criticism into self-confidence |location=Larkspur, CA |publisher=Pattern System Books |isbn=9780984392711 |oclc=728324364 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hhnPBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT8 }} See also [http://personal-growth-programs.com/ the authors' web site]

A number of self-help books deal with the inner critic, though some use other terms to denote it, such as "the judge" or "the gremlin". There are two main approaches to working with the inner critic:

1. Treat it as an enemy to be ignored, dismissed, fought against, or overcome. This is the approach recommended by Byron Brown based on the Diamond Approach,{{cite book |last=Brown |first=Byron |date=1999 |title=Soul without shame: a guide to liberating yourself from the judge within |location=Boston |publisher=Shambhala Publications |isbn=157062383X |oclc=39013815 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1efJvVlv8HAC }} by Robert W. Firestone and colleagues in their Voice Therapy approach,{{cite book |last1=Firestone |first1=Robert |last2=Firestone |first2=Lisa A. |last3=Catlett |first3=Joyce |date=2002 |title=Conquer your critical inner voice: a revolutionary program to counter negative thoughts and live free from imagined limitations |location=Oakland, CA |publisher=New Harbinger Publications |isbn=1572242876 |oclc=53163537 }} and by Rick Carson in his book Taming Your Gremlin.{{cite book |last=Carson |first=Richard David |date=2003 |orig-year=1983 |title=Taming your gremlin: a surprisingly simple method for getting out of your own way |edition=Revised |location=New York |publisher=Quill |isbn=0060520221 |oclc=51304177 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NDB3x-ueuTAC }}
2. Treat it as an ally to be befriended and transformed. This is the approach recommended by Hal and Sidra Stone based on Voice Dialogue,{{cite book |last1=Stone |first1=Hal |last2=Stone |first2=Sidra |date=1993 |title=Embracing your inner critic: turning self-criticism into a creative asset |location=San Francisco |publisher=HarperSanFrancisco |isbn=0062507575 |oclc=26357001 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6CfSnOnHcuEC }} by Earley and Weiss based on Internal Family Systems therapy, by Ann Weiser Cornell based on Inner Relationship Focusing,{{cite book |last=Cornell |first=Ann Weiser |author-link=Ann Weiser Cornell |date=2005 |chapter=Radical gentleness: the inner critic transforms |title=The radical acceptance of everything: living a focusing life |location=Berkeley |publisher=Calluna Press |pages=105–128 |isbn=0972105832 |oclc=63119783 |chapter-url=http://www.focusingresources.com/downloads/radical_gentleness.pdf }} and by Tsultrim Allione based on Tibetan Buddhism.{{cite book |last=Allione |first=Tsultrim |author-link=Tsultrim Allione |date=2008 |title=Feeding your demons: ancient wisdom for resolving inner conflict |location=New York |publisher=Little, Brown & Co. |isbn=9780316013130 |oclc=175286356 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KU-O19yxLS0C }} Pat Allen also takes this approach in her book Art Is a Way of Knowing,{{cite book |last=Allen |first=Pat B. |date=1995 |title=Art is a way of knowing |location=Boston |publisher=Shambhala Publications |isbn=1570620784 |oclc=31410074 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fz76AwAAQBAJ&pg=PT52 |quote=Instead, consider beginning to honor the resistance, consider getting to know the critic. The critic holds very valuable information. }} as does Lucy Bellwood in 100 Demon Dialogues.{{cite book |last1=Bellwood |first1=Lucy |author1-link=Lucy Bellwood |title=100 Demon Dialogues |date=17 July 2018 |publisher=Toonhound |isbn=978-0-9882202-4-9 |pages=43, 44, 54, 81, 89, 105 (Afterword) |url=https://lucybellwood.com/books/100-demon-dialogues/ |quote=I'm just a small, scared person trying to make good art in the world. Perhaps I'm not so different from this even smaller, infinitely more scared creature trying to keep me safe. So take whatever input that creature gives you, acknowledge it, and then make the choices that genuinely nourish you without fear of punishment or guilt.}} These approaches see the inner critic as attempting to help or protect the person—but in a covert, distorted, or maladaptive way. This perspective makes it possible to connect with the critic and transform it over time into a helpful ally.

Some psychotherapists suggest that either of these two approaches may be appropriate depending on how the inner critic manifests. If the inner critic is intense and stubborn, a friendly approach of valorizing the inner critic's concerns could be helpful; if the inner critic is mild, it may be more appropriate to gently ignore it and make contact with "suppressed organismic experience".{{cite journal |last1=Stinckens |first1=Nele |last2=Lietaer |first2=Germain |last3=Leijssen |first3=Mia |date=June 2013 |title=Working with the inner critic: therapeutic approach |journal=Person-Centered & Experiential Psychotherapies |volume=12 |issue=2 |pages=141–156 |doi=10.1080/14779757.2013.767751 |url=http://ppw.kuleuven.be/home/onderzoek/klip/medewerkers/leijssen/publicaties/inner-critic-2013-2.pdf |quote=The research demonstrated that a variety of strategies was used to encourage the inner critic into motion. A flexible approach, tailored to the nature and intensity of the inner critic, appeared to offer the best chance of success. A critic-friendly approach that is attuning to the critic's feelings and concerns and valorizing these appeared to be more beneficial when the critic manifested itself in a stubborn and intensive way. Where the critic presented a milder manifestation the critic could be more easily set aside at a distance or contact could be made with the suppressed organismic experience. Maintaining a uniform approach to the problem without any regard to the way in which the critic was gradually being expressed, appeared to delay the therapy process or even, in certain cases, to be counter-therapeutic, particularly where the critic was quite intense. }}

Robert W. Firestone and Lisa Firestone, in their book Conquer Your Critical Inner Voice, discuss how the inner voice often seems to protect a person from being hurt or feeling abandoned when in reality it reinforces feelings of shame and guilt, sabotages intimate relationships, and leads to self-destructive behaviors. Their book presents a method for externalizing the critical inner voice in order to turn self-criticisms into statements that can be evaluated objectively.{{cite news |url=http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/compassion-matters/201005/steps-overcoming-your-critical-inner-voice |title=Steps to overcoming your critical inner voice |date=21 May 2005 |first=Lisa A. |last=Firestone |access-date=19 January 2014 |newspaper=Psychology Today |archive-date=30 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120630060710/http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/compassion-matters/201005/steps-overcoming-your-critical-inner-voice}}

Meditation or mindfulness practice is considered one effective strategy for dealing with the negative effects of critical thoughts.{{cite web |last=Firestone |first=Lisa A. |date=8 August 2013 |title=The power of choosing your thoughts |newspaper=Huffington Post |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lisa-firestone/choosing-your-thoughts_b_3461686.html |access-date=18 October 2013}}{{cite book |editor-last=Gilbert |editor-first=Paul |editor-link=Paul Gilbert (psychologist) |date=2005 |title=Compassion: conceptualisations, research and use in psychotherapy |location=London; New York |publisher=Routledge |isbn=1583919821 |oclc=55679765 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eSyPAgAAQBAJ }}{{cite journal |last=Schwartz |first=Richard C. |date=August 2013 |title=Moving from acceptance toward transformation with Internal Family Systems Therapy (IFS) |journal=Journal of Clinical Psychology |volume=69 |issue=8 |pages=805–816 |doi=10.1002/jclp.22016 |pmid=23813465 }}

• Virginia Woolf considered all books as "surrounded by a circle of invisible censors ... [who] admonish us".{{cite book |last=Lee |first=Hermione |author-link=Hermione Lee |date=1997 |title=Virginia Woolf |edition=1st American |location=New York |publisher=Alfred A. Knopf |isbn=0679447075 |oclc=36786158 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/virginiawoolf00leeh/page/523 523–424] |url=https://archive.org/details/virginiawoolf00leeh/page/523 }} She named one major figure "The Angel in the House", a female voice telling her to be less hostile to/placate men; another "The Spirit of the Age", an elderly male voice like a customs officer checking her writing for contraband.

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• Association of ideas
• Autocommunication
• Compassion focused therapy
• Default mode network
• Impostor syndrome
• Internal discourse
• Internal monologue
• Introspection
• Mind-wandering
• Personification
• {{section link|Psychology of self|Berne's transactional analysis}} (Critical parent)
• Resistance (creativity)
• Stream of consciousness
• Superego resistance
• Train of thought

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{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

• {{cite news |last=David |first=Susan |date=4 January 2010 |title=How to manage your inner critic |url=http://hbr.org/2010/01/how-to-quiet-your-inner-critic |newspaper=Harvard Business Review |access-date=27 July 2015 }}

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Category:Popular psychology