How to befriend your inner critic

SAM is the inner critic only you hear, and it’s the voice that says “stop being lazy’’ or “you are not good enough’’. This ancient part of our brains is known as the Checker system or SAM.

This Checker within us has three main functions – it scans our environment, alerts us to danger, and then motivates us to get to safety – hence its nickname ‘SAM‘.

In a fast-paced modern world with constant noise, the high value placed on being productive and the limited opportunities we allow for ourselves to relax and rest, it is likely that SAM perceives modern life as a code red most of the time.

Learning to soothe your SAM and befriend it is a life skill worth investing in. When it’s mean and nasty there is usually more going on than fear of failure or that you’re doing something wrong. 

Lunchtime Life Skills: Making friends with your inner critic

Join us for this enlightening webinar run by Curtin’s Psychological and Counselling services team that covers what our inner critic is, its evolution, what it does to the body, and how we can find constructive ways to appreciate it, live with it, learn from it, and grow. 

You can also visit Curtin’s Counselling & Wellbeing webpage to learn more about Curtin’s free counselling services, other group programs and medical services for all students.