Noticing Self-Criticism
One of the biggest early shifts I support my clients with is moving away from self-critical thoughts relating to the feelings they're experiencing.
For example, without you realising, it's quite likely that your brain (like mine previously!), has automatically absorbed the idea that when you experience challenging emotions, let's say worry, this means you're lacking in some way.
That you are somehow inadequate. Thoughts like:
❌ “I shouldn't feel like this,”
❌ “I should be stronger than this,”
❌ “Other people are doing better than me.”
These thoughts are normal but they don't serve you emotionally. That judgement? It intensifies your experience, creating more to process.
You aren't just having to process the original emotion any more, you now have extra emotions to process also, as a result of your self-critical thoughts.
Once you start allowing your emotional challenges to pass with as little self-criticism as possible, their intensity is hugely reduced. We want to create space for the emotions you seek so take this first step to reduce your daily emotional intensity...
Set a silent, repeated alwarm on your phone to regularly remind yourself of the thought "Everyone feels difficult emotions sometimes. They don't mean I'm somehow inadequate."
Your brain will start to internalise this concept as you revisit it to provide you with emotional relief. You can DM me too if you’d like me to offer a few other suggestions that could work well too.
I'm Sally Stockreisser, Emotional Skills Coach. I help professionals like you develop skills for emotional self-support and empowerment that are accessible, actionable and sustainable.
After transforming my own emotional experience beyond anything I imagined, I now have the privilege of passing these skills on to you.
If you’d like free weekly support and practical tools like this and so much more, you’ll find the link to my free newsletter in my ‘Free Support’ section.
Have a great week — and consider exploring the benefits of you supporting you.