Better Days offers a radically new method to get that snarky or belittling voice out of your head. The author’s practical, simple approach can work for anyone who worries too much, gets hemmed in by bad thoughts, procrastinates out of fear, or generally gets down on themselves a little or a lot.

The method is simple: First you meet your inner critic. Then you talk to it. Then you speak up whenever it pokes in. Eventually it gets the picture that you don’t need it, and it shuts up. That’s the gist, but there’s a lot more, including a dozen specific techniques anyone can use.

The book traces the history of the inner critic from Freud’s discovery of the superego as a component of a three-part personality system to its current prominence as the manager of cultural rules and personal conflicts. It describes the essential role of the inner critic when it arises in childhood, as a protective hedge against fateful mistakes, and its later reluctance to let go of power after outliving its usefulness.

With an introduction by the author’s wife, Anne Lamott.