How to recognize inner critic?
The best moment to catch him/her are the moments when we make a "mistake" or when we hurt ourselves or others.
What do you do?
Call yourself: "You idiot."
That is exactly inner critic voice.
How would it look like if we had compassion for ourselves? We would take care of ourselves.

The inner critic looses power when we see him/her clearly.
There is then the place for Freedom and Essence.

You can read more about inner critic here