

If we “listen” to its destructive point of view and believe what it is telling us, we will fail to challenge it and instead we will act on it. The critical inner voice is not an auditory hallucination it is experienced as thoughts within your head. These destructive internalized thoughts lead to a sense of alienation–a feeling of being removed from ourselves and distant from those we love. It undermines our ability to interpret events realistically it triggers negative moods and sabotages our pursuit of satisfaction and meaning in life. The critical inner voice exists to varying degrees in every person. This hostile, judgmental advisor also warns us about other people, promoting angry and cynical attitudes toward others and creating a negative, pessimistic picture of the world. It encourages and strongly influences self-defeating and self-destructive behavior. The voice consists of the negative thoughts, beliefs and attitudes that oppose our best interests and diminish our self-esteem. It is the defended, negative side of our personality that is opposed to our ongoing development. The Critical Inner Voice is the part of us that is turned against ourselves. Then it is further influenced by what we learn, what we enjoy, and the experiences that facilitate our personal growth. It first develops and grows as a result of our parents’ and other concerned adults’ nurturing qualities and behaviors, and the love and care they direct toward us. The positive part of us consists of our unique characteristics–physical abilities and attributes, and emotional temperament, as well as positive traits that we naturally incorporated from our parents. These qualities all make up who we really are they reflect an undefended part of our personality and a friendly, compassionate view of our self. We have natural tendencies to grow and develop and to pursue our personal and vocational goals, as well as desires to be close in our relationships and to search for meaning in life. On the one hand, we have self-regard–we have traits and behaviors that we like or feel comfortable with. Being for Yourself or Against YourselfĪll of us are divided within ourselves. In other words, people often make their actions correspond to their self-attacks. “Listening” to the voice, that is, believing its prescriptions and prohibitions leads to self-limiting behavior and negative consequences.

The term “voice” is used to describe a form of intrapsychic communication that represents a split within the individual between forces that are life-affirming and those that are antagonistic to the self. The concept of the “voice” is not restricted to cognitive processes but is generally associated with varying degrees of anger and sadness. It has been defined as an integrated system of thoughts and attitudes, antithetical toward self and hostile toward others that is at the core of an individual’s maladaptive behavior. The critical inner voice can be thought of as the language of the defensive process. Watch a Whiteboard Video on The Critical Inner Voice What is the Critical Inner Voice? They are merely the more obvious fragments of a larger, well-hidden enemy within each of us that influences our actions, interferes with the pursuit of our personal and career goals, and has an overall negative impact on our lives. However, most of us are unaware that these sneering, belittling self-criticisms are only the tip of an iceberg. We are all aware of those nagging thoughts and doubts that increase our nervousness and interfere with our performance at various times. Instead you can the actions that are in your best interest. Once you identify the thought process and pinpoint the negative actions it is advocating, you can take control over your inner voice by consciously deciding not to listen. To identify this, it is helpful to pay attention to when you suddenly slip into a bad mood or become upset, often these negative shifts in emotion are a result of a critical inner voice. In order to take power over this destructive thought process, you must first become conscious of what your inner voice is telling you so you can stop it from ruining your life.
