How did feeling criticized actually help to have your need for companionship met?
Perhaps as a child you learned that feeling criticized was the only way to have companionship need met. But now you are an adult and you get to choose how you meet your own needs. How can you meet companionship need without experiencing the trigger?
Get creative.
Congratulations, you (compassionately) made your trigger your bitch.
You’ve developed new strategies for meeting your needs that center you as the hero of your life.