Mindy writes:
When you begin the inner critic work…because it’s so complex, are you able to begin through exploration and then filter out the parts, or should you just start with being curious about one specific part, like the criticized child! It seems very complicated and a little overwhelming! Just wondering how to even begin this work?!?!?

My response:
Usually the best place to start is with the Inner Critic part. For example, you might hear verbal judgments from your Critic or see an image of it as a harsh schoolmarm. Then you need to unblend from it and get to know it. Sometimes you might be  feeling the Criticized Child strongly, for example, feeling depressed, hopeless, or ashamed. Then you can start there. In either case, the first step is to unblend from both the Critic and the Criticized Child, so you are in Self and therefore can get to know the Critic in a helpful way.

It is useful to know about the rest of the Inner Critic cluster because these parts often come up when you are trying to work with the Critic. You might hear a part that starts arguing with the Critic. That is the Inner Defender. Or you might realize that you want to get rid of the Critic. In this case, you are blended with an angry concerned part. You need to ask these parts to step aside so you are in Self. For more details on unblending, see chapters 5 and 6 in my book Self-Therapy. Even though this book doesn’t focus on the Inner Critic, it shows how to work with any protector using IFS. (Our upcoming book on the Inner Critic will spell this out for Critic protectors.)

Then you get to know the Critic and find out its positive intent for you. This is covered in chapter 7.
Good luck.
Jay

I welcome further responses from Mindy or anyone else to this post.