Lakeasha Sullivan, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist with a private practice in Atlanta.
You are so stupid. Why do you always screw up? You’ll make a fool of yourself. You look awful.
Say hello to your inner critic, the silent voice constantly judging your thoughts and behaviors. Harshly.In my practice, I hear about its abusive attacks from my patients every day. Sometimes it calls them by name, but it generally prefers the pronoun “you.”
My patients are not a unique group. I’ve never met a person who doesn’t have an inner critic. It “is not volitional, it is already in your nervous system,” says Steven C. Hayes, foundation professor of psychology at the University of Nevada at Reno, and co-developer of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT). “It’s not going away.”
Source: How to stop criticizing yourself and befriend your inner critic – The Washington Post
