Conquer Your Critical Inner Voice: A Revolutionary Program to Counter Negative Thoughts and Live Free from Imagined Limitations

Description

The inner critic is the voice in our heads that whispers, whines, and needles us into poor self-esteem and self-confidence. It edits our thoughts, controls our behavior, and inhibits our actions. It thinks it is protecting us from being hurt or feeling abandoned, but all it really does is reinforce our feelings of shame and guilt, sabotage our intimate relationships, and incline us to self-destructive behaviors. Conquer Your Critical Inner Voice presents a revolutionary new strategy for dealing with the inner critic: externalizing it. This subtle, powerful technique turns internal self-criticisms into 'you' statements that can be evaluated objectively and exposed as the gross exaggerations, unfair comparisons, or flat out lies they really are. This book takes you through the step-by-step process of learning how to keep track of your negative thoughts, analyze their reality, and recognize how they impact your life. Learn to use a variety of techniques to help release your inner critic's stranglehold and combat its subversive effect on your career achievement, intimate relationships, and sexuality. A final chapter of the book offers parents simple ways to help their children avoid forming a tyrannical inner critic. Contents Acknowledgments Foreword Introduction Part I: Understanding Your Critical Inner Voice 1. Becoming Familiar with Your Critical Inner Voice 2. How Your Critical Inner Voice Creates Shame, Guilt, and Low Self-Esteem Part II: Challenging the Critical Inner Voice 3. How the Critical Inner Voice Interferes with Your Career 4. How the Critical Inner Voice Influences Your Relationship 5. How the Critical Inner Voice Intrudes on Your Sexual Relationship 6. How the Critical Inner Voice Seduces You into Addictive Behaviors 7. How Listening to Your Critical Inner Voice Can Make You Feel Down and Depressed 8. How to Select a Therapist Part III: Guidelines for Living the “Good Life” 9. For Parents: Guidelines for Optimal Child Development 10. Living Free of Imagined Limitations—The “Good Life” Bibliography Suggested Reading References About the Authors