Divya Kannan, Ph.D., HSP, Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry and Staff Psychologist, Psychological and Counseling Center, was recently interviewed by US News Health for an article titled "self-Criticism Can Be Psychologically Devastating -- How to Overcome It."
From a very early age, we learn – in a manner of speaking – to nitpick ourselves. We take information from those we encounter and the world around us to fine-tune how we act and who we are, taking note of what doesn’t work in an ongoing internal dialogue that stretches back to childhood. “The healthy form of self-criticism,” says Divya Kannan, a clinical psychologist and assistant professor of clinical psychiatry at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, may involve a child evaluating his or her own behavior, like what not to do, based on cues from parents and teachers.