24 May 35 Phrases To Disarm Your Inner-Critic, According to Therapists
In some ways, happiness isn’t all that hard to enjoy.
I know, it’s easier said than done. But much of what makes happiness difficult is … within ourselves!
That is, if we stopped treating ourselves so harshly and if we stopped being so self-critical, many of us would enjoy much better mental health and more positive emotions like happiness …
via Parade by
Do you ever wish you could mute the voice inside your head?
We may face criticism from bosses, partners and parents. But sometimes, the things we say to ourselves are the most harmful. That’s why phrases to disarm your inner critic are so important.
“We are with the voice in our own head 24/7, so if people weren’t taught how to be compassionate, loving and forgiving to themselves, that inner voice becomes a critical, harsh voice,” explains Stacey Sherrell, LMFT, a Los Angeles-based license marriage and family therapist and co-founder of Decoding Couples.
While we can cut toxic people out of our lives, we’re still with ourselves. Sherrell stresses that flipping the script is essential to silence our inner critic.
“Learning how to challenge negative self-talk and replace it with positive, compassionate or neutral self-talk is one of the most effective ways to stop it in its tracks,” Sherrell says.
Sherrell and two other mental health providers shared ways to talk yourself out of negative self-talk and silence your inner critic.
Why Are People So Self-Critical?
You’d think we’d be kind to ourselves, right?
But experts share it’s so common to have a loud, obnoxious inner critic.
“Self-criticism is rooted in internalized negative beliefs that we learned during our early developmental years,” says Karol Ward, LCSW, a licensed psychotherapist and executive coach specializing in confidence and communication. “In other words, these are the overly harsh and distorted messages we heard or learned while we were growing up.”
Ward says artificial standards created by social media also contribute to inner criticism.
How Do You Know You Have an Inner-Critic?
Self-criticism can be so chronic it becomes normal, causing people to miss huge red flags.
“Some of the ways this can show up is by believing you’re not good enough, exacerbated by low self-esteem and self-worth,” says Sherrell. “In romantic relationships, you’ve been let down or burned when you’ve been excited or vulnerable before. In some ways, being your own worst critic gives us a false sense of control to prevent being hurt.”
In other words, Sherrell explains that you may find yourself saying, “If I can tell myself the worst parts of myself or criticize everything, it isn’t going to hurt when they do it.”
Ward says focusing on our strengths can help us disarm our inner critics. So can positive self-talk.
35 Phrases To Disarm Your Inner Critic
1. I am enough as I am.
Sometimes, good enough is just right.
“This phrase can build your self-esteem and provide empowerment to who you are and how you show up in relationships,” says Sherrell…
… keep reading the full & original article HERE