Show Notes
A Practical Guide to Silencing Your Inner Critic
Do you have an annoying negative critic in your head, narrating your life and driving you in the wrong direction? Of course you do! We all have one — that’s why we’re not perfect rational creatures.
It’s that nagging inner voice that seems to get louder when we’re anxious or down. Your inner critic whispers harsh judgments, fuels self-doubt, and keeps you from living fully. It’s the human condition — we’re messy!
This episode, based on a top CBT workbook by Veronica Walsh, gives you practical, proven skills to challenge the critic. Silencing it can be fun — and empowering, when done with intention and CBT strategies.
CBT helps you to: • Spot automatic negative thoughts and recognize when they’re distorted • Separate internalized beliefs from your true self • Interrupt and reframe unhelpful thinking • Reduce guilt, shame, and emotional hijacking • Use humour to pause fear, anxiety, or depression long enough to think differently
Even the most logical, cynical people often find this simple, child-like technique surprisingly effective - and even enjoyable.
Small shifts in thinking can create big changes in how you feel and live. This episode shows you how to begin — easy to understand, remember, and apply. Dive in.
Access more CBT resources — handouts, workbooks, audios, and videos: • Blog & free guides: iVeronicaWalsh.wordpress.com • CBT practice (Ireland): CBTandFeelingGood.com
Further reading - a CBT Visual - Silencing the Inner Critic - download the PDF: https://iveronicawalsh.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/col_deck_silencing_your_inner_critic.pdf
More from An Intro to CBT
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Ever reach for a glass of wine after a long day, thinking it will help you unwind — only to feel more sluggish, low, or anxious the next morning? You’re not imagining it. Alcohol may feel relaxing at the time, but for many of us, it creates an “artificial depression” in the brain and nervous system afterward — and we often don’t connect the dots.
Why does your brain malfunction for public Speaking? Because it’s ‘scary’? Nope. Because you have a ‘disorder’? Nope. Because of your ‘primal nervous system’? Yes!
Stuck in the same negative thinking loops? Do you find yourself overthinking, catastrophising, or ruminating on the same worries day after day? If so, you’re not alone - these are common human thinking habits, not permanent character flaws. Bad thinking habits are learned. And they can be unlearned — with CBT.
Overthinking and self-sabotaging again? We’ve all been there. One upsetting event can spiral into big drama. You are not alone - and it’s not a personal flaw, or a fixed personality thing.