Softening Self-Blame And Self-Criticism: Befriending Your Inner Critic With IFS - by Vanessa Leon-Gonzalez

COURSE

Softening Self-Blame And Self-Criticism: Befriending Your Inner Critic With IFS

With Vanessa Leon-Gonzalez

Do you find yourself constantly criticizing yourself, second-guessing your decisions, or believing that everything is somehow your fault? If so, you're not alone. In this course, you'll discover a different way of relating to your inner critic through the compassionate framework of Internal Family Systems (IFS). Rather than trying to silence or eliminate self-critical thoughts, you'll learn to understand the protective role your inner critic has been trying to play and why self-blame can feel so convincing. Through guided reflections, experiential exercises, and IFS-informed teachings, you'll begin to distinguish healthy responsibility from self-blame, meet the vulnerable parts beneath your criticism, and strengthen the calm, compassionate presence within you that IFS calls the Self. This isn't about becoming a different person or forcing positive thinking. It's about developing a kinder, wiser relationship with every part of yourself, including the ones that criticize, doubt, or push you the hardest. If you're ready to move from self-judgment toward self-understanding, this course offers a gentle path home to yourself.


Meet your Teacher

Vanessa Leon-Gonzalez is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) specializing in Internal Family Systems (IFS) and EMDR. She works with individuals and couples to help them heal from trauma, reduce self-criticism, and build more compassionate relationships with themselves and others. Drawing from years of clinical experience, Vanessa is passionate about helping people understand the protective parts of themselves—including the inner critic—with curiosity rather than judgment. Her approach is warm, experiential, and grounded in the belief that healing happens through self-understanding, compassion, and connection.

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6 Days

0 students

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32 min / day

Healing

English


Lesson 1

When The Compass Points To You

Why does the mind so quickly turn inward when something goes wrong? In this lesson, you’ll explore the habit of self-blame and learn to recognize the difference between healthy self-reflection and automatically assuming that you are the problem. You’ll begin noticing when your internal compass gets pulled toward blame, and create a little more space to consider what else might be true.

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Lesson 2

Befriending Your Inner Critic

What if your inner critic isn’t your enemy? Through the lens of Internal Family Systems (IFS), you’ll begin getting to know the part of you that criticizes, corrects, judges, or pushes you. You’ll also explore what happens when other parts fight back against the critic, and practice approaching your inner world with curiosity rather than entering another internal battle.

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Lesson 3

What Is Your Inner Critic Afraid Of?

Behind criticism there is often fear. In this lesson, you’ll turn toward your inner critic with curiosity and begin exploring what it believes might happen if it stopped criticizing, monitoring, correcting, or blaming you. Understanding the fear beneath the criticism can transform the way you relate to even your harshest inner voices.

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Lesson 4

Meeting What the Critic Protects

Inner critics often work hard because something more vulnerable lies beneath their protection. In this lesson, you’ll gently explore the parts of you that may carry shame, hurt, rejection, inadequacy, or old beliefs about who you are. Rather than pushing past the critic, you’ll practice honoring its protective role while creating space for deeper healing.

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Lesson 5

Becoming Your Own Inner Leader

When self-criticism takes over, it can feel as though one part of you is running the entire system. In this lesson, you’ll explore Self-leadership: the capacity to meet your inner world with curiosity, compassion, clarity, and steadiness. You’ll practice relating to your critic without obeying it, fighting it, or needing it to disappear.

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Lesson 6

Coming Home To Yourself

Healing doesn’t mean experiencing self-criticism again. In this final lesson, you’ll bring together what you’ve learned and explore how to recognize when your compass has been pulled back toward self-blame. You’ll practice returning to curiosity, compassion, and Self—again and again—so that your inner critic can become a part you understand rather than a voice that defines you.

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