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In modern therapy it is considered[0] that at least some of the inner critic issues are responses to past traumatic events and emotional trauma. It tries to hel
by smugglerFlynn 4y ago
In modern therapy it is considered[0] that at least some of the inner critic issues are responses to past traumatic events and emotional trauma. It tries to help you avoid doing something that hurt you in the past, like a legacy broken failsafe mechanism.
Perfectionism, avoidance and other problems often have very traceable roots in the past, and there are therapy tools like EMDR[1] that help to fix or mitigate the root causes.
In my experience, it is not really possible to fix serious emotional trauma with affirmations, and deeper emotional work is required to start seeing your inner critic (and other trauma symptoms) shrink.
The best way to start working on such problems as inner critic is to find a licensed mental health specialist.
0 - http://www.pete-walker.com/shrinkingInnerCritic.htm http://www.pete-walker.com/shrinkingInnerCritic.htm and similar research on CPTSD
1 - https://cptsdfoundation.org/2020/02/17/emdr-and-trauma-what-you-need-to-know/ https://cptsdfoundation.org/2020/02/17/emdr-and-trauma-what-...
- sverona 4y agoPete Walker writes good books, but sometimes I find his prescription of out-fighting the critic counterproductive. I observe that the voice of certain unproductive thoughts I have is more like a wounded child than a critical adult. It says "Why even try?" sadly rather than mockingly. Fighting it makes this worse. It needs love and cuddles.
- smugglerFlynn 4y agoThat was my experience as well. I am not a big fan of his 13 step flashback management process, or some of the other strategies, as they never worked effectively for me, but in my opinion he does an excellent job to map the battlefield, establishing causes and effects. His book is a good starting point, along with two other classics[0][1], but it is also rather old (10 years this year!), with more strategies and research done on top of it by other psychologists since then. [0] Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk https://www.amazon.com/Body-Keeps-Score-Healing-Trauma/dp/0143127748 https://www.amazon.com/Body-Keeps-Score-Healing-Trauma/dp/01... [1] Running on Empty by Jonice Webb & Christine Musello https://www.amazon.com/Running-Empty-Overcome-Childhood-Emotional-ebook/dp/B009VJ4B4C/ https://www.amazon.com/Running-Empty-Overcome-Childhood-Emot...