I think the critical and authoritative voice in the head is universal. It’s one of the first ways we make sense of the world because typically our parents are telling us what and what not to do, good and bad before we even understand what the words mean, so
very deep
And because like Phillips says there safety is more important than desire, it’s crucial for survival and gets internalised early, brain as get- out-of-way threat avoidance machine, that voice is useful and strong and should be somewhat honoured but as we see with so many of us it gets out of hand, and it feels unnatural to work against it, especially if you’re Irish or British! but sometimes it helps to see it as one position, one voice amongst many.
Of course. I’m not advocating some inane positive thinking here, not pretending it’s not there, not killing it either, but seeing it as a thing that has its function and some grounding in reality but just one position that can be refuted by eg talking out loud to yourself about how brilliant you are