Soothing Your Inner Critic

Do you frequently give yourself a hard time, thinking you’ve got things wrong and feeling full of self-blame? Do you talk to yourself far more harshly than you would to anyone else? Perhaps you’ve decided you’re not going to beat yourself up any more – but discovered that it’s hard work to ignore or reason with your inner critic. Are you fed up fighting it?

It can seem like your inner critic can always find something else to complain about. To paraphrase several of the people I’ve worked with: “I’ve realised I have a very harsh inner critic, and it really makes my life difficult. I am so angry with myself for that.”

While it’s good to challenge our negative self-talk when it crops up, if we want those critical inner voices to stop making things so difficult, we need a different approach.

When we understand our internal dialogue a bit better – not just the inner critic, but our impulse to argue with it, or to just ignore everything and binge-watch a box set – we can develop more inward harmony and soothe our feelings of anxiety and self-blame.

As a result we’ll be less drained by conflicting thoughts and feelings; we’ll have more energy for resolving problems and enjoying life; and we’ll have a clearer sense of direction and self-confidence.

• Understand why the inner critic is there, and how it tries to protect you.

• Learn a self-compassionate approach to quieting the internal battle

• Identify your own personalised steps for developing greater inner peace

This experiential workshop is led by Karen Bray (BA, MBACP) a counsellor based at the Soul Spa in central Bath. She offers workshops and one-to-one consultations to help clients develop greater emotional resilience, improve relationships and create greater life-satisfaction. To book, email Karen now at karen@karenbray.co.uk.