Healing Your Inner Critic - by Dr Candice Creasman Mowrey

COURSE

Healing Your Inner Critic

With Dr Candice Creasman Mowrey

Our minds are constantly analysing and judging, and when we are inundated with negative thoughts, we can feel irritable, disconnected, and disempowered. In this 10-day course, you will learn how to work with your inner critic, identify it's source, and use compassion and mindfulness strategies to let go of negative self-talk that is creating barriers to wellness, joy, and loving connection with others.


Meet your Teacher

Candice Creasman, PhD, is a licensed professional Counselor, Supervisor, author, and meditation teacher. She has provided psychotherapy to individuals with addiction, mood disorders, and survivors of trauma, for over a decade, and has been practicing meditation for 15 years. In her private practice, she helps clients break through barriers to wellness using mindfulness and compassion-based strategies. Dr. Creasman also trains new therapists on using meditation for personal and clinical development.

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10 Days

12.5k students

4.7 stars

10 min / day

Health & Happiness

English


Lesson 1

Inviting Your Inner Critic In

On Day 1, we will tune in to the inner critic on purpose. This powerful act of awareness immediately releases us from many patterns of unconscious reactivity by shining a light on those thoughts that would typically be running in the background of our daily lives. We will highlight the areas where we are most likely to encounter our inner critic, in which we will undertake an assessment of our abilities, our bodies, and how we feel when other people don't do what we want them to do.

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Lesson 2

Noticing The Urge To React

If having a "Negative Nancy" running commentary in our heads isn't bothersome enough, we complicate matters by reacting to negative judgment in problematic ways. Harsh criticism triggers feelings of sadness, guilt, anger, or general dissatisfaction that we manage by eating, drinking alcohol, using substances, gossiping, or lashing out. On Day 2, we tune into the urges that arise when our inner critic is narrating our daily lives.

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Lesson 3

The Inner Critic And Relationships

One of the most damaging aspects of an undercover inner critic is the disconnection it can cause in relationships. We judge others harshly, assume their behavior is personal or at best thoughtless, and withdraw or lash out. On Day 3, we will take a look at what our inner critic tells us about other people, acknowledging judgments that are unfair, disconnecting, or generally unworkable if our goal is to be loving and compassionate.

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Lesson 4

The Inner Critic And You

As hard as our inner critic can be on others, we are 10 times harder on ourselves. On Day 4, we learn to notice the harsh ways we judge ourselves, the hum of negativity that runs in the background of our daily lives, zapping our energy and keeping us stuck. When we tune in, we hear how painful much of our self talk truly is, and begin to feel the spark of compassion for ourselves that is the key to healing.

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Lesson 5

Whose Voice Is That Anyway?

Our inner critic is partly a consequence of evolution, and partly the result of painful childhood experiences. We learn to see ourselves as less than, unlovable, broken, or bad, based on interactions with early caregivers, and these beliefs translate into the negative narrator we encounter throughout our lives. On Day 5, we dig into the experiences that taught us to see ourselves, the world, and others in such a limited way. Again, the light of awareness gives us power to carve a different path out of constant negativity.

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Lesson 6

Practical Compassion

On Day 6, we identify some of the specific memories we have of learning to believe our harsh inner critics. Using guided imagery, we will contact the heart, tapping into our hurt, and letting it arise in the body. Once we contact the hurt, we will learn to nurture ourselves gently and wisely through the pain, becoming the parents we needed. Recognizing our inner critic is a product of learning, where, by learning to relate to our pain in a kind and gentle way, we loosen the hold of the inner critic. In doing so, we make it's commentary less believable and easier to ignore.

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Lesson 7

Pre-emptive Compassion (Self Care)

Our harsh inner critics rob us of incentive and motivation to be kind to ourselves in the simplest of ways. We tune out basic needs like hydrating, resting, and nourishing our spirits because our inner airwaves are full of negativity. Learning to identify specific self-care needs and to meet them with an open heart funnels energy away from the inner critic and toward our true selves.

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Lesson 8

Managing Negative Judgments With Awareness

Now that we have clarity on how our inner critic operates, where it comes from and how to care for ourselves, on Day 8 we learn how to let go of negative judgments when they arise. Negative self-talk will already seem less believable now that we have uncovered many of the moving parts of the inner critic, but mindful letting go gives us a powerful tool for shaping our reality intentionally, no longer at the mercy of the inner critic.

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Lesson 9

Institutional Inner Critic

On Day 9, we explore the impact of the inner critic on a social level, recognizing the inner critic's work to generate fear of anyone who is "other." Recognizing the inner critic's contribution to our understanding of race and gender can help us become powerful change agents in divided communities.

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Lesson 10

The Outer Critic: Dealing With Someone Else's Inner Critic

On Day 10 we learn some basic skills for responding to others when their inner critic is running the show. Healing our own pain is an incredible way to contribute to the awakening of the world, but we take it to the next level when we can respond to criticism, blame, and anger in others, with an open heart. We will learn to respond effectively, maintaining self-respect, and holding boundaries firmly, with love.

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Ask your teacher

This course includes 254 community questions and 38 audio replies from Dr Candice Creasman Mowrey. The community classroom and teacher audio replies are only available via the app.

254

4.7 (832)

Recent Reviews

Laura

October 19, 2025

This was a very good course in beginning to change my constant tendacy to be harsh with myself.

Alison

May 19, 2025

Fabulously helpful, great insight and easy to follow recommendations! Highly recommend.

Fabienne

March 18, 2025

Thank you so much for this transformative course on healing the inner critic, and also understanding better the “outer critic”. For instance in session nine, you helped me understand how the inner critic isn't just a personal struggle, but a systemic issue that contributes to oppression and marginalization. In the final session on dealing with the outer critic, I appreciated the emphasis on understanding that others' negative reactions often stem from their own inner critics. Thank you for guiding us through this important work of healing and understanding. Gratefully, Fabienne

Max

September 10, 2024

Wow I really am able to notice my inner critic. I have a lot of things to continue to work on. And guess what I did. Eye opening and a great step towards living in the freedom of now. Thank you. I will do this again in a year.

LJ

February 24, 2024

Thank you Dr Candice, this course was very helpful and perfect for me at this time.

Jeannet

October 8, 2023

This wonderful course gave great insights and solutions. Thank you! 🙏

Holli

September 29, 2023

Very helpful information.

Katherine

September 10, 2023

So helpful. Thank you for your lesson on the institutional critic especially. As a disabled person, it was great to see someone teach these ideas so well.

Katy

August 21, 2023

This was a very interesting take. Some parts were extremely insightful and thought-provoking. I learned a great deal that will be useful and will continue using going forward

Sara

August 19, 2023

Helpful.

Colin

July 28, 2023

Good stuff. Going to listen again.

Rita

July 21, 2023

Very interesting and clear ideas and suggestions. Thank you.

Rachel

June 26, 2023

This course did SO much for me- both personally and in my work life.

Daniella

May 9, 2023

Lovely and helpful

Thomas

April 20, 2023

Great course and so informative. I've never written so many notes but so glad for the information

Margaret

April 5, 2023

This was a fantastic course, a nice balance between observation and concrete examples and advice. I love how matter of fact Dr Candice is: “For the inner critic “I” or “me” is the subject of every sentence” so wise! I got so many great quips from this course, whose wisdom I’ll be able to use and integrate into my life. I’m going to listen again and take notes this time.

Fahad

February 12, 2023

Excellent course with great insights.

Liz

January 26, 2023

Excellent course. Instructor has clear concise communication style easy to understand some pretty intense material on our inner critic. Everyone could benefit from this course. One of the best ones I have taken on IT! 🙏

Natascha

December 26, 2022

De moeite waard!

Tom

December 14, 2022

Wonderful course! So easily slowing and relatable. Much benefit for me and I’m 75.

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