Dear Claire:

You wrote: “when I’m very tired my mums voice / critic is harder to silence”- it is when we are tired, distressed, physically/ emotionally, that the critical voice (the one doing the mother’s bidding, criticizing you) is most active. Expecting this to be so can be helpful, so to counter that voice with reasonable thinking. Also, not exposing yourself to any more criticism by your mother is most important- that inner voice doesn’t need any more encouragement from her.

anita