Befriend Your Inner Critic

YOU’RE IN THE RIGHT PLACE IF…

➣ You’re tired of the relentless voice of your inner critic—and you’re ready for something more compassionate.

➣ You long for a deeper, kinder relationship with yourself, but don’t know where to begin.

➣ You’ve done talk therapy, read all the books, and still feel stuck in the same old patterns.

➣ You resonate with the idea that you are made up of many inner parts—and you want to meet them with curiosity instead of shame.

➣ You crave a grounded, soulful approach to healing that honors your emotions, intuition, and lived experience.

➣ You’re ready to experience your Core Self—not just conceptually, but viscerally—as a source of clarity, calm, and confidence.

➣ You want to be part of a supportive, brave space where deep inner work is held with tenderness and care.

➣ You’ve tried to heal by fixing or forcing yourself—and you’re ready to try befriending instead.

What if the most nourishing relationship of your life was not outside of you—

but already within?

I am your Self-Trust Coach.

IFS transformed my relationship with myself.

I went from a confusing cacophony of inner voices struggling for dominance, to finding an inner sanctuary warmed by the light of this nourishing relationship. And it all happened through the process of Befriending.

In this program, I have wrapped up the tools that have worked for me, and offer them to you to support you in your journey to wholeness. Your journey to the most loving and supportive relationship of your life.

I’d love for you to join us.

Hi, my name is Catherine,

Befriend Yourself:

An IFS Sanctuary

An 8 week program to walk you through the process of befriending your inner critics and finding your inner ally.

Start Your Inner Journey


This is the beginning of eight powerful weeks devoted to healing and befriending yourself.

Over these 8 weeks, we’ll gather weekly for heartfelt teaching and compassionate group coaching:

Week 1: Welcome & Orientation
Begin your journey by grounding in the foundational principles of Internal Family Systems (IFS). Learn what parts and Self are, and how they interact in your inner system. Through gentle exploration and group connection, you'll be welcomed into a supportive space where your inner experiences are honored. Meet your fellow travelers—kindred spirits on a shared path of healing, curiosity, and self-discovery.

Week 2: Meeting Your Inner Ally
Encounter the essence of who you truly are—your Core Self. This Self is not something you have to earn; it is always present beneath the noise of inner conflict. In this session, you'll begin to experience the natural qualities of Self-energy—calm, clarity, curiosity, and compassion. This is the foundation from which all inner transformation flows, and the ally you'll return to again and again.

Week 3: Discovering Your Inner World
Your inner world is rich with stories, emotions, and protectors—all with unique roles and histories. In this session, you'll begin to map the constellation of your parts, recognizing their patterns, voices, and energies. With curiosity and gentleness, you'll take the first steps toward internal understanding and connection, inviting clarity and respect for each part’s purpose.

Week 4: Befriending Your Inner Critics
Rather than battling or silencing your inner critics, you'll be invited to listen to them with compassion. What are they trying to protect you from? How did they come to carry such heavy burdens? With the help of the Inner Critic Quiz, you'll identify your dominant critic patterns and begin building a relationship that is rooted in respect, understanding, and a new possibility of partnership.

Week 5: Befriending Your Inner Firefighters
Meet the parts of you that leap in when emotional overwhelm feels like too much to bear—your “firefighters.” These are the parts that may numb, distract, lash out, or shut down in an attempt to protect you. Through presence and compassion, you’ll learn to understand their urgency and fear, and offer them the care and connection they truly need.

Week 6: Befriending Your Tender, Exiled Parts
Beneath your protectors lie your exiles—tender parts of you who carry pain, shame, or fear from past experiences. These parts are often hidden away for safety. In this deeply sacred session, you’ll gently connect with one of these parts, offering it the presence, attunement, and healing it’s longed for. You'll witness how powerful it is to bring love to the places within you that have felt most alone.

Week 7: Harmonizing Your Inner World
With growing trust and understanding among your parts, it’s time to bring them into dialogue with one another. Through a structured “meeting-of-the-parts” process, you’ll invite a sense of internal collaboration and compassion, creating more internal spaciousness and harmony. This is where the seeds of Self-led living begin to truly take root.

Week 8: Embodying the Work
In this final session, you’ll reflect on your journey and the inner connections you’ve cultivated. You’ll celebrate your growth, honor the courage it took to show up, and identify your next steps toward sustaining an ongoing relationship with your Self and your parts. This is not the end—it’s the beginning of a lifelong friendship with yourself.

When you join the Befriend Yourself Group, you’ll receive…

🌀 8 weekly modules of IFS-based teaching, designed to help you understand and transform your relationship with your inner world


🫶 A supportive group container where your healing journey is held with care, attunement, and depth (live or self-paced depending on your tier)


💬 Weekly live group sessions on Zoom for community, practice, and real-time support

👋 Community space and support in between sessions on Mighty Networks.

🎁 Bonus tools and resources to deepen your process


🌱 Ongoing access to the materials so you can revisit the journey whenever you need it

📖 We’ll start on Tuesday, September 9, and meet weekly on Tuesdays from 12-1:30pm CT.

Early Bird Price:

available through December 15

single payment of $800 or 8 weekly payment of $100 per week

*price increases to $1200 on December 16, 2025. Doors close December 22.

Start your journey with these free bonus resources today:

  • Immediate access to an on-demand training on the basics of IFS, normally $47

  • A gentle, empowering training on how to begin befriending your inner critic, normally $37

Words from those who’ve journeyed with Catherine through IFS and group work:

  • "This group was an eye-opening experience and has stuck with me ever since! "

    “The group has been impactful in my day-to-day life, from making choices in setting boundaries, to being able to positively promote myself in my work. Working with Catherine on what my core values are and being able to explore what that looked like really expanded my capacity for having space for myself and facing my own self doubt with curiosity.” —B.W

  • IFS has changed my life!

    I have been able to get down to the root of myself and learned so much in the process. Prior therapy I’ve done always felt like a band aid, or a “treat the symptoms” type of healing that didn’t really get me anywhere. I was still lost, anxious, and full of self doubt. I was tired of not understanding where my problems stemmed from and what to do to fix them. Since IFS, I’ve learned how to use these tools to create a loving space for myself. My anxiety and depression no longer control my life, and it’s one of the most freeing things I’ve ever felt. I learned how to truly love myself.  —E.C.

  • "IFS has helped me on my personal journey by giving a voice to different parts of myself and allowing each to have room to express itself."

    “Catherine and I often joke it's like the literal representation of the movie, Inside Out. As a creative person, that visual representation has greatly helped me create healthy relationships with all the different parts of myself. Rather than feeling like I "should" act a certain way and "shouldn't" listen to certain thoughts, I've grown to be curious to hear what comes to the surface inside of me. IFS has helped me learn to communicate more kindly to myself, be more patient as I learn and grow, and appreciate all of who I am. My mind has become a much safer place to be after practicing IFS therapy for the past year and a half.”

    —D.F.

  • I have made more progress with IFS.

    “I spent the last 30 years working with a variety of therapists and doctors in an attempt to address chronic depression and anxiety. In the last 3 years with Catherine doing IFS, I have made more progress than that previous 27 years combined.”  —G.H.

  • “My heart just finally turned on.” —D.W.

  • Imagine how it would feel to finally trust yourself—to know your own clarity, even when life feels messy.

  • Imagine feeling deeply at home in your own skin, free from the constant push and pull of inner conflict.

  • Imagine being able to listen to your inner critic without fear, knowing it’s just a part of you trying to help.

  • Imagine feeling compassion, not judgment, for the most tender and hidden parts of yourself.

  • Imagine having space inside you—not the chaos of competing voices, but an inner calm you can return to anytime.

  • Imagine befriending every part of you, so none of you feels left out, shamed, or silenced.

  • Imagine living from your inner anchor—your Core Self—with confidence, clarity, and connection.

  • Imagine what it would be like to experience harmony inside, so you can show up in your life with presence and peace.

Imagine…..

*

Imagine….. *

Why join Befriend Yourself?

  1. Transform Your Inner Critic into an Inner Ally
    Learn how to meet your critical parts with compassion and curiosity, so they soften and begin working with you instead of against you.

  2. Experience Real Inner Harmony
    Rather than feeling pulled in different directions, you'll begin to cultivate a grounded, trusting relationship with all parts of yourself.

  3. Feel Deeply Seen and Supported
    You're not alone. In this intimate IFS group, you'll be witnessed and held by others on a similar journey—no fixing, just compassionate presence.

  4. Live from Your Core Self
    Reconnect with your calm, confident, and compassionate Self—and begin leading your life from that centered, wise place within.

I want this level of deep healing, of deep knowing, of deep trust in yourself—to be yours.

I long for you to feel deeply loved, seen, and known by you. To know deep down that you always, always have yourself as your ally, support, and guide.

It is possible. Come join me. Come home to yourself.

When I befriended myself…

This program is for you if…

  • You're ready to shift from self-criticism to self-compassion.

  • You’re curious about Internal Family Systems (IFS) and want guided support in applying it to your life.

  • You sense there’s more to you than anxiety, perfectionism, or people-pleasing—and want to meet the parts underneath.

  • You want to feel more inner peace, clarity, and connection with yourself.

  • You long to be in a safe, supportive space with others on a journey of inner healing and self-trust.

This program is not for you if…

  • You're looking for quick fixes or surface-level mindset shifts.

  • You’re not open to exploring your inner emotional world or internal parts.

  • You’re currently in acute crisis and need higher-level or individual clinical support.

  • You prefer a worksheet-driven highly structured approach over an intuitive, relational one.

Let me tell you something, you do not have to keep battling your inner critic, hiding your tender parts, or feeling like you’re too much —or not enough.

There’s a gentler way. A wiser way.

A you-centered way.

Ready to Befriend Yourself?

Join our small group of kind, courageous humans on an 8-week journey of self-trust, inner connection, and deep healing through Internal Family Systems (IFS).
Come as you are. All parts of you are welcome.

✨ Spots are limited to keep the group intimate and safe.

🕊️ Enrollment closes December 22.


Step into a sanctuary where you can finally feel seen, soften your inner world, and come home to yourself.

Meet Your Guide:

Catherine Quiring, MA, LMHC

IFS Practitioner • Self-Trust Coach • Fellow Traveler

I’m not just a guide in this work—I’m also a witness to how life-changing it can be.

For years, I lived under the weight of inner criticism, perfectionism, and people-pleasing. I tried hard to be who I was “supposed” to be—good, successful, kind, capable. But inside, I often felt fragmented, exhausted, and disconnected from myself. The inner pressure was relentless.

Internal Family Systems (IFS) helped me name and befriend the parts of me that were trying so hard to protect me—from failure, from rejection, from shame. I discovered the tender exiled parts that had longed for care but never had a voice. And I found something even deeper: the calm, clear, compassionate Self at the center of it all.

Now, I live from that place more and more. It’s not about perfection—it’s about relationship. With myself. With all my parts. With the world.

I created Befriend Yourself to offer others what I wish I had earlier in my journey: a space to feel safe, seen, and supported while exploring your inner world. This group is a sanctuary for healing and reconnection, rooted in the belief that you don’t need to be fixed—just gently welcomed back home to yourself.

FAQs

  • No prior experience with IFS is necessary. You’ll receive on-demand introductory trainings to help you get oriented, and everything we do will be guided with care. Whether you’re brand new or already familiar with parts work, you’re welcome here.

  • This is a psychoeducational and experiential group, not therapy. While the work may feel deeply healing, it’s not a substitute for individual therapy. However, many participants find it complements their personal therapeutic work beautifully.

  • That’s totally normal. You’re never required to share more than you’re comfortable with. This group is designed to be gentle, non-pressuring, and spacious. Many people find just listening and being in the presence of others doing this work is healing in itself.

  • The live group meets once a week for 90 minutes over 8 weeks. There are optional short trainings you can watch anytime, plus a few optional reflection invitations between sessions. The structure is designed to support—not overwhelm—you.

  • Yes! A core part of the journey involves understanding, softening, and building a relationship with your inner critics—so you can move from self-judgment to self-compassion.

  • You are welcome here. We honor each person’s pace, and this group is trauma-informed and rooted in consent, care, and attunement. That said, this is not a crisis intervention space, and may not be the right fit if you’re in acute distress.

  • We’ll decide on a weekly day and time that works for everyone in the group. Email Catherine at catherine@cqcounseling.com with your preferences.

  • The weekly meetings will be on Zoom.

    If any Pensacola area participants want to meet in person, we can add some additional in person meetings into the program, or create a separate in person group. If you’d like to meet in person, please email me at catherine@cqcounseling.com

  • To protect group confidentiality, sessions are not recorded. Consistent attendance helps create safety for everyone, so please plan to attend live as much as possible. If you need to miss one, reach out for an update on that week.

  • This space is especially resonant for sensitive souls, deep feelers, recovering perfectionists, self-critics, and anyone on a path of healing from systems that taught you to mistrust yourself. All identities and backgrounds are welcome.

  • We’ll start our program at the beginning of January, and go 8 weeks from the start date.

    The date/time of our weekly meetings will be decided together with participants to find a weekly time that works for everyone.

    If the time absolutely doesn’t work for you, you will be refunded the cost of the program.

Ready to Befriend Yourself?

You don’t have to keep battling your inner critic, hiding your tender parts, or feeling like you’re too much—or not enough.
There’s a gentler way. A wiser way. A you-centered way.

Join our small group of kind, courageous humans on an 8-week journey of self-trust, inner connection, and deep healing through Internal Family Systems (IFS).
Come as you are. All parts of you are welcome.

✨ Spots are limited to keep the group intimate and safe.

🕊️ Enrollment closes December 22.

Step into a sanctuary where you can finally feel seen, soften your inner world, and come home to yourself.