An eight-week course with Chad Bennett

I'm Not One to Judge, But…

For those who've done the work but the critic came along.

Thursdays 8-10am PT, 4-6pm CET beginning January 21st, 2027 Live on Zoom. Small cohort by application. Recordings available

A short invitation and overview from Chad: what the judge is, how the course unfolds, and how to apply.

The bind

You've done the work. You're kinder to yourself than you used to be. And still… something keeps the score.

Most of us know we have a critic. But very few explore it. It remains elusive in the background noise of our lives. You may not even recognize it until it's handed down the verdict. Maybe you recognize some symptoms of judgment here:

You've "done the work" but rather than truly appreciating how far you've come, you still sense a drivenness to get somewhere else.

You hear the advice to "stop being so hard on yourself" as another thing you haven't done right.

You realize the witness you've cultivated in meditation practice contains judgment. Your attention scans for what is wrong rather than resting in the simplicity and aliveness of Being.

You recognize you have unique ideas or talents and they just don't manifest. You believe you're "not good enough" or you find yourself competing with others for influence.

Maybe you already see this clearly so you "try to stop being judgmental". But here's the bind: when we try to stop judging, it's usually the judge judging the judgment. Every attempt to fix it keeps us circling the same self: up when we're doing well by its standards, down when we're not, and always busy improving.

The course

An eight-week live course for meeting the judge from Wholeness.

In an intimate group of practitioners, you'll learn to recognize the judge as it happens, unhook from its attacks, and discover what it has been holding back: qualities like strength, compassion, power and joy. Not by getting rid of the judge, but by including it.

Weeks 1–3

Get to know the judge

Uncover what it is, how it shows up in you and how it lives in the body. We build a trusting container to share our experiences. We discover our contributions are gifts and one of several ways we unhook from self judgment.

Weeks 4–5

Discover it's on your team

We befriend the judge and the judged. From a view of Wholeness, we discover the wisdom aspects of the judge, as we discriminate what it wants for us from its attacks. Self-compassion is key.

Weeks 6–8

Reclaim what it held back

Our exploration moves beyond psychological cleaning up. As the judge and the parts it judges are seen as expressions of Awareness, we can soften into Being. We discover awareness and its essential qualities are where we best Show Up from.

Eight live sessions on Zoom, with Wholeness and self-compassion meditations, guided inquiry, and small and large group sharing. Sessions recorded. Small cohort, by application.

Who it's for

This is for people who have done the work but the critic came along.

You might be a meditator or contemplative who sits regularly, and has noticed the judge grading the sitting.

You might be a therapist, coach or helper, someone others lean on, who finds it harder to offer yourself what you offer them.

You might have a sense of calling that keeps getting postponed, and a quiet suspicion about why.

You're not looking to be fixed. You're curious what's underneath the fixing.

It may not be the right fit if

You're in acute crisis or need trauma-focused therapy right now. This is a contemplative course, not therapy, and I'd rather point you somewhere better suited.

You're hoping for a technique that makes the voice go away.

You hope when the course is finished you'll be fixed and finally feel good enough. (I understand. So would the judge ;)

“Of all of our parts, the judge may be our most neglected.”

We give our attention to the hurt child parts, healing and soothing them. Rarely do we consider that the observer watching it all could be fused with the judge.

Chad Bennett, from his series on the inner critic

Get the series

Our Proposed Itinerary (subject, of course, to our judgement)

From recognizing the judge to living without it in charge.

The weeks build on each other, though not in a straight line. We all move up and down this path, sometimes within the same afternoon.

Thursdays 8-10am PT, 4-6pm CET January 21st-March 11, 2027 Live on Zoom · sessions recorded

Week 1 · January 21

Recognizing the Judge

Its voice, its tone, what it does in the body, what it allows us to think and do. We begin telling our awareness apart from it, and wonder what might be possible without it.

Week 2 · January 28

How Judgment Works

The subtler attacks, and the self-observation trap, where the judge hides in the observer. Its content is yours alone; its structure is surprisingly universal.

Week 3 · February 4

The Judge as a System

It takes two to tango: we discriminate the judge from the judged. We map how we react habitually which reinforces the power of the judge. We learn to unhook.

Week 4 · February 11

Meeting the Judge for Good

We stop judging the judge and get curious about its deeper wisdom, its contribution to Wholeness. Something changes when we own it as part of us rather than an authority "out there".

Week 5 · February 18

What the Judge Obscures

As its grip loosens, the tender places it has been guarding become available, slowly, without an agenda to fix or even to heal them.

Week 6 · February 25

Wholeness in the Parts

Parts met without interference begin to show their essential qualities. We move from fixing the self toward Being, and see that what a part longs for, it already is.

Week 7 · March 4

Discernment, Conscience and Power

What can be reclaimed from the judge. We move from condemning ourselves and others toward discernment, and respond from clarity, responsibility and care.

Week 8 · March 11

Showing Up

Apply our learning toward our desires for creativity, intimacy, vocation, or spiritual practice. What becomes possible when the judge is not the central organizing authority?

What may shift

I'm wary of promising outcomes… I mean, who am I to judge?

The judge loves a promise it can measure you against. So instead of promises, here is what this work tends to open, in its own time.

Catching the judge mid-sentence, rather than hours later.

Discerning an attack from feedback, moving from shame to response-ability.

Less energy spent in the drama of fighting, fleeing or appeasing the judge and a decrease in "selfing" in general.

Rest and enjoyment that has nothing to do with earning it. (Really? Is that really ok?)

More time immersed in qualities such as strength, compassion, joy, gratitude, and spontaneity.

Movement on the things you keep postponing.

Progress on your developmental and spiritual unfoldment without the need to check on your developmental and spiritual unfoldment.

How we'll work

Practice, Inquiry and Wholesome Company

Eight live sessions

120-minute sessions on Zoom, with meditation, teaching, guided inquiry and sharing. Recorded for anyone who can't attend live.

Meditations to keep

Wholeness and self-compassion meditations you can return to long after the course ends.

Experiments between sessions

Short exercises that keep the inquiry alive in ordinary life, where the judge actually lives.

Readings

Weekly excerpts from my writing and from Byron Brown's Soul Without Shame.

A small cohort

Sharing in small and large groups, in the spirit of Mitra: grounded in presence, and in what's actually happening for each of us.

Limited places

The group is limited to 20 participants, so there's room for everyone to be heard.

Chad Bennett

Your guide

Chad Bennett

I'm a recovering psychotherapist and Zen priest. These days, I think of myself as a spiritual friend, a kalyanamitra; someone who has walked a good stretch of this road and is still walking it, glad for the company.

As an enneagram type 1, I've also walked a long time beside my old friend the inner critic. By now I'm a field expert and have been repeatedly humbled by its entrenchment. Looking back, I don't think it's changed that much. But I'm a better friend to myself overall.

Part of the reason I decided to close my psychotherapy practice in 2025 was because of the relentlessness of our "fix it" culture. My own inquiry into our collective lack of self-acceptance gave birth to Mitra, a view of befriending everything we possibly can.

In truth, I think we can do much better at befriending. But that's no way to look at it, really.

Joining

Join the course in three easy steps.

Joining starts with a short application: a few questions that help me understand where you are, and whether this is a good fit for you and for the group. I read every application carefully and appreciate your responses.

1
ApplyA few questions, about ten minutes.
2
Hear from meWithin a few days. Sometimes I'll suggest a short call first.
3
RegisterAt whichever level below fits your life right now.

Supported

$295

For anyone sincerely drawn to the work for whom the standard amount would be a real strain.

Standard

$395

The true cost of the course, for those who can pay it without hardship.

Sustaining

$495

For those with more to give, who'd like to help make room for someone else.

Apply to join Applications close January 14. If cost is the only thing in the way, say so in your application.

Before you go

Moving towards we learn the chords. Move away, we just delay the music.

If you're not ready to apply, you're welcome to read along. I'm writing a short series of takes on the judge: where it hides, what it guards, and what it might be made of. They're free, and there's no pressure in them.

Receive my Takes on the Inner Critic