The Inner Critic Podcast

Finding, Befriending, and the Power of Taking your Inner Critic on Walks with Kat Torninger

How does your inner critic actually show up in your daily life? What if that voice isn't something you need to silence—but something you need to understand? And how can simple practices like walking, journaling, and limiting digital noise help you reconnect with your inner voice? In this episode, I sit down with Kat Torninger to explore the role our inner critic plays in our lives and how we can build a healthier relationship with that voice. Kat shares how her inner critic often shows up as she navigates entrepreneurship, and how she's learned to approach it with curiosity instead of resistance. One of the practices she uses is taking her inner critic on walks—creating space to question whether the voice is offering something helpful or simply echoing old fears. We also talk about how the digital world can amplify our inner critic. Constant scrolling and absorbing other people's lives can make it harder to hear our own thoughts and intuition. Kat shares why limiting that noise and intentionally creating space—whether through walks, journaling, or time alone—can help us reconnect with ourselves. Throughout the conversation, Kat encourages listeners to become curious about their inner critic instead of believing everything it says. By engaging with that voice, questioning it, and taking small steps outside our comfort zones, we can build confidence and develop a more supportive relationship with ourselves. Thanks for listening, I'd love to connect with you over on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/innercriticpodcast/]. SHOW NOTES AND RESOURCES: Click here [https://theinnercritic.com/mental-health/episode06-power]

Leadership, Boundaries, and Burnout

If boundaries alone aren't solving burnout, what deeper shift might be required? What if burnout isn't a personal failure, but a signal that how you're leading yourself needs care and attention? What positive changes can happen when leadership is rooted in presence rather than capacity and control? In this episode, I want to gently but clearly name something: burnout is not a personal failure. It's often a leadership wound. And when I say leadership, I don't just mean titles or teams — I mean anyone leading a household, a therapy room, a classroom, a business, or even the emotional system of their own life. If you are constantly holding things together, you are leading. So often we've been taught that leadership means capacity — doing more, holding more, managing more. But what I see again and again is that people don't burn out because they lack skill. They burn out because they've been overfunctioning for a very long time. When we're more grounded and rested, we start to see that true leadership isn't about control — it's about presence. And presence requires energy. It requires a nervous system that isn't constantly bracing. Ultimately, self-led leadership means allowing support without earning it. Letting some things be disappointing. Choosing sustainability over admiration. Trusting that rest is productive, even when no one applauds it. There is a limit to our energy output. We have to put back into ourselves. Thanks for listening, I'd love to connect with you over on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/innercriticpodcast/]. SHOW NOTES AND RESOURCES: Click here [https://theinnercritic.com/mental-health/episode05-boundaries]

Befriending Inner Critics in Neurodivergent Nervous Systems with Allie Casazza

What happens when you treat your inner critic like something that shouldn't be silenced or defeated, but something asking to be understood? How do neurodivergent nervous systems change the way we experience self-talk and shame? What if befriending your inner critic is the key to sustainable growth? In this episode, I sat down with Allie Casazza to talk about something so many of us struggle with but rarely slow down enough to understand: our inner critic. We explored how neurodivergent nervous systems, especially for folks with ADHD, can intensify self-talk, shame, and hypervigilance around what other people think. Allie also spoke candidly about her own fear of public perception, especially when making life decisions that she knew were right but felt deeply uncomfortable—like ending her marriage. We talked about how easy it is to build our lives around other people's opinions, and how hard it can be to step out of that when you've been wired to please and anticipate others. Ultimately, this conversation was about taking loving ownership of yourself—understanding your wiring, upgrading your reactions, and learning how to respond from your highest self instead of from fear. Thanks for listening, I'd love to connect with you over on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/innercriticpodcast/]. SHOW NOTES AND RESOURCES: Click here [https://theinnercritic.com/mental-health/episode05-neurodivergent]

The Voice That Pushes: Learning When to Slow Down with Joe Sanok

Are you constantly pushing yourself, even when your body is asking for rest? What if your inner critic isn't the enemy—but an overworked protector? How might your life and business change if you made space for play? In this episode, I sit down with Joe Sanok to talk about something that lives quietly inside so many of us: the inner critic that keeps pushing, even when our bodies and lives are asking for rest. What unfolded was a conversation not just about work or business, but about how urgency, productivity, and perfectionism shape our inner worlds—often without us realizing it. Joe shares honestly about how his own inner critic still shows up in everyday moments, even after years of success and experience. What struck me most was his reminder that the inner critic doesn't disappear when we "make it." It simply adapts. Together, we explore how cultural narratives around productivity, responsibility, and worth get internalized, and how easily rest can start to feel irresponsible instead of nourishing. Thanks for listening, I'd love to connect with you over on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/innercriticpodcast/]. SHOW NOTES AND RESOURCES: Click here [https://theinnercritic.com/mental-health/episode03-critic]

Meet Your Inner Critic - It Has a Story

Where did your inner critic come from? How can you meet your inner critic and really get to the bottom of its fear and judgment? What can you say to your inner critic to release shame, increase compassion, and free yourself from its fear of vulnerability? In this episode, I explore how to meet your inner critic with curiosity instead of shame. I want to start by normalizing something important: every single human has an inner critic. In Internal Family Systems (IFS), the inner critic is understood as a manager part—a protector that developed to keep you safe by anticipating danger and preventing shame. From a neurobiological perspective, it's closely linked to the brain's negativity bias and the amygdala, which scans for threats based on past experiences. So when your inner critic shows up, it's not a sign that you're failing. It's your nervous system remembering. The critic is responding to something in your current environment that resembles an old wound, memory, or relational pattern. It's not proof that something is wrong with you—it's information about what feels unsafe. At its core, the inner critic is usually saying one thing beneath all the judgment: "I'm scared for you." Its job is to keep you away from vulnerability, rejection, or harm—especially if those things were once overwhelming or dangerous. Thanks for listening, I'd love to connect with you over on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/innercriticpodcast/]. SHOW NOTES AND RESOURCES: Click here [https://theinnercritic.com/mental-health/episode02-critic]