The Voice Of The Inner Critic

The inner critic or "critical inner voice" is a concept used in popular psychology and psychotherapy to refer to a sub-personality that judges and demeans a person according to Wikipedia. This voice judges, criticizes or demeans a person whether or not the self-criticism is objectively justified. This inner critic is a major proponent of some of the dysfunctional beliefs we have concerning ourselves.

Some dysfunctional beliefs will be easy to recognize. You hear or read them somewhere and you immediately know: Yep, that’s me! Others are lingering deep inside of us and find expression in the voice of an inner critic - the voice of self-doubt.

The first step to overcome them is to be able to identify the voice of your inner critic. Take a look at the following criteria that make it easier to recognize the voice:

• Harsh, Rude, or Mean

The voice of the inner critic can be dismissive and put ourselves down: “How can you be so stupid.”

• Black & White Thinking

The voice is judgemental and binary. Sometimes it compares ourselves to others: “Look at his report, it’s flawless. And you’re still here struggling - you’re just incapable.”

• Voice of Reason

It’s telling us what will happen or not happen. How rational or irrational this is, is a different question: “If you do ABC, XYZ will happen.”

• Generalizing

The voice of the inner critic tends to generalize and use cultural or societal rules to defame you and your actions: “Everyone does XYZ. What’s wrong with you?”

• Repetitive

The voice of the inner critic often sounds like a broken record and will repeat the same statements over and over again.

• Irrational

The statements can be irrational, but since they derive from persistent dysfunctional beliefs, this can be hard to see.

• Known voice

The voice of the inner critic sometimes echos a real person, such as a critical parent, teacher, or boss.

For women specifically, there are additional common indicators for the voice of the inner critic:

• Not-good-at-this

The voice also questions their competence in traditionally male-dominated fields and disciplines: “You aren’t good at Maths/ Negotiation/ Technology. Don’t even try.”

• Body Perfectionism

Lastly, the voice of the inner critic bothers women with statements about how they look and establishes causal relationships between their look and their performance or success: “With those extra kilos/ wrinkles/… you will never succeed.”

In order to overcome the voice of your inner critic, it’s essential to recognize it, call it out, and identify the underlying dysfunctional beliefs. A powerful exercise is to start documenting any self-doubts that come up on a daily basis. Ask yourself if your internal monologue is friendly, calm and encouraging or critical and bullying. This is the first step towards liberation.

Enjoy your weekend folks.

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