Course Description
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Everyone experiences an inner critic, based on negative messages from authority figures and from ourselves in reaction to unrealistic expectations of perfection and emotions such as fear, shame, contempt, or envy. In this workshop we will explore an integrative approach to understanding and working with a wide range of inner criticism, punishment, and harshness in our clients, but also in ourselves as therapists. In complex trauma this natural phenomenon can become more intense, overwhelming, and sometimes more dissociated. We will explore how these inner aspects develop, and understand their several functions of protection, avoidance, and attempts to gain or maintain validation and care from others. We will discuss how to understand and manage several different types of aggression toward others that are evoked by inner criticism. Participants will have an opportunity to explore their own inner critic with compassion as a step toward helping clients learn to deal with their own. Our ability to reflect on our own tendencies toward self-criticism and perfectionism will support our capacity to work with these experiences in our clients.
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Learning Objectives
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Participants will be able to:
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1. Describe at least two (2) functions of inner critics.
2. Explain the developmental origins of inner critics.
3. Apply at least four (4) ways to reduce the intensity of inner criticism.
4. Discuss at least one (1) strategy to increase reflective capacities.
5. Identify at least two (2) ways for therapists to calm their own self-criticism, particularly in their role as therapist.
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The Envision Difference
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100 % online: Develop your skills from the comfort of your home or office.
Q & A: Have questions for the presenter related to the programs content? Send us an email and we'll pass your question on to the presenter.
1 YEAR access: Your registration comes with 1 year of access to the recorded program and to any materials the presenter has made available. Once you finish the program's requirements, you can receive a certificate with CEs for home study learning. *Exception applies, see CE section
On-Demand
60 minutes
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Functions of the inner critic
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Perfectionism, avoidance of emotion, regulation of self-esteem
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Mentalizing and reflecting and the inner critic
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Continuum of inner critics: From introjects to ego states to dissociative parts
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Aggression and the inner critic
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The inner critic that is active in relationships
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Internalizing and externalizing aggression
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Traumatic contributions to the inner critic and aggression
30 minutes
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The inner critic in transference and countertransference
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Therapeutic tasks in working with the inner critic
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The Drama triangle and the inner critic
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Limit setting
30 minutes
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Assessment of internal and external aggression
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Fight aggression and criticism
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Aggression in reaction to attachment wounding
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Competitive aggression
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Predatory aggression
30 minutes
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Therapeutic approaches to angry, critical parts
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Working with perpetrator imitating parts
60 minutes
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Working with shame to decrease activation of the inner critic
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Working with your own inner critic
45 minutes
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Working with the inner critic
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Therapeutic approaches
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Working with you own inner critic as a therapist

About Kathy Steele, MN, CS, APRN
Kathy Steele has been in private practice since 1985. Kathy is a Past President and Fellow of the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation (ISSTD), and has also served two terms on the Board of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS). Kathy served on the International Task Force that developed treatment guidelines for Dissociative Disorders, and on the Joint International Task Force that has developed treatment guidelines for Complex Posttraumatic Stress Disorders. She has received a number of awards for her work, including the Lifetime Achievement Award from ISSTD, an Emory University Distinguished Alumni Award, and the Cornelia B. Wilbur Award for Outstanding Clinical Contributions from ISSTD. Kathy has (co)authored numerous book chapters, peer reviewed journal articles, and three books with her colleagues.