Where did your inner critic come from? How can you meet your inner critic and really get to the bottom of its fear and judgment? What can you say to your inner critic to release shame, increase compassion, and free yourself from its fear of vulnerability?

In this episode, I explore how to meet your inner critic with curiosity instead of shame. I want to start by normalizing something important: every single human has an inner critic. In Internal Family Systems (IFS), the inner critic is understood as a manager part—a protector that developed to keep you safe by anticipating danger and preventing shame. From a neurobiological perspective, it's closely linked to the brain's negativity bias and the amygdala, which scans for threats based on past experiences.

So when your inner critic shows up, it's not a sign that you're failing. It's your nervous system remembering. The critic is responding to something in your current environment that resembles an old wound, memory, or relational pattern. It's not proof that something is wrong with you—it's information about what feels unsafe.

At its core, the inner critic is usually saying one thing beneath all the judgment: "I'm scared for you." Its job is to keep you away from vulnerability, rejection, or harm—especially if those things were once overwhelming or dangerous.

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