
Most psychologists agree that the roots of our inner critics are to be found in childhood. Various theories, ranging from psychoanalytical to neuroscientific models, describe its origins and suggest strategies for how it can be silenced. The inner critic has been given numerous different labels.

These detailed, science-based exercises will help you increase the compassion and kindness you show yourself and will also give you the tools to help your clients, students, or employees show more compassion to themselves.
Challenging negative thoughts worksheet download#
Fortunately, there are numerous effective strategies for weakening its power.īefore you continue, we thought you might like to download our three Self-Compassion Exercises for free. It magnifies the negative, spreading discontent and worse in our lives. The destructive voice in our heads is never satisfied and can soil and spoil anything we may achieve, no matter how impressive. Its strength and impact determine our overall mental wellbeing. Our inner critic can be a cruel and deeply damaging force. Its relentless destructive chatter is also described as negative self-talk. In CBT frameworks, its activities are summed up as automatic negative thoughts (ANTs). This voice has many names: inner critic, judge, saboteur, the superego. We all know this voice in our head that constantly criticizes, belittles, and judges us.
