The Inner Critic Voice
We all have voices that echo inside our heads – some are helpful, and some are not. That hurtful voice is sometimes called the “inner critic” (Elliott, 1992), “impostor syndrome,” or “saboteur perspective.”
The negative thoughts that characterize self-critic can become problematic when we believe these thoughts to be true. In these cases, the judging voice of the self-critic strongly influences our feelings and actions. A powerful way to reduce the effect of self-critical thoughts is by observing them. Rather than being fully identified with negative, self-critical thoughts and believing them to be true, observation involves the ability to stand back and witness them. This ability has been referred to as “reperceiving” (Shapiro, Carlson, Astin, & Freedman, 2006), “decentering” (Safran & Segal, 1990), and cognitive defusion (Hayes, 2011). This reflection was designed to take an observational stance and consider our inner critic from an outsider’s perspective.
