Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsWhy Is the Inner Child Important?What Is an Inner Child Wound?What Triggers Our Inner Child?How Do I Tap Into My Inner Child?Healing Your Inner ChildReparenting YourselfWhere to Get Help

Table of ContentsView All

View All

Table of Contents

Why Is the Inner Child Important?

What Is an Inner Child Wound?

What Triggers Our Inner Child?

How Do I Tap Into My Inner Child?

Healing Your Inner Child

Reparenting Yourself

Where to Get Help

Close

The inner child is a young part of our psyche that influences how we think and react as adults. Often used inpsychotherapyandspiritualsettings, the inner child can symbolize hardship, trauma, and eventriumphwe experienced during our youth.

Yet, when we ignore our inner child and subsequently ignore how our past is painting our present, we do ourselves a major disservice. We can end up overlooking important formative experiences that may be critical in healing some of ourmaladaptive coping mechanisms.

This article will explore why our inner child is important, what might trigger it, and how you can tap into your inner child and start healing.

You can think of your inner child as who you were during an important time in your life, someone you may have lost touch with despite their importance to you. However, the relationship with the inner child is different than relationships you might have with others you’ve lost touch with.

When you lose conscious awareness of your inner child, you lose conscious awareness of a part of yourself. In turn, you may experience difficulty regulating your emotions and act from a regressed state when upset.

For example, you could find yourself having an angry outburst akin to a temper tantrum. Alternatively, you might feelshamefulandlonely, just as you did as a child. Finally, you may notice that when stressed, youswitch moods swiftly, similar to how a child may navigate an unsettling situation.

Our inner child can be behind many of our emotions and it can bring about great healing when properly nurtured.

Consciousness in Psychology

An inner child wound refers to adamaging experience or repeated experiences a person lived through as a child.

In turn, these experiences can result in unresolved trauma that manifests within adults. When you find yourself acting out of character or having emotions that feeluncontrollable, you could be behaving from that younger part of yourself that was wounded.

When the inner child istriggered, you will notice the aforementioned behavior that doesn’t feel like it is in line with your true character.

Inner child triggers aren’t much different than any other triggers we may stumble upon. Referred to as trigger events, these issues can be mundane examples of disruption in an otherwise ordinary day.

For example, being late to work could lead one to feel unreasonably concerned that they will be publicly shamed, chastised, or fired, despite having perfect attendance and flawless reviews. Yet, this person could have experienced anunstable home environmentwhere they were continually shamed, yelled at, or evenphysically abusedfor the smallest mistake.

What Is Post-Traumatic Growth (PTG)?

Consider ways you can tap into the joy of being a child. Was there an activity you loved as a kid? Consider taking it up. Were amusement parks your thing? Plan a trip and lean into the silliness of it all.

How to Cleanse Yourself

If you’re noticing that your inner child feelstriggeredoften, it may be time to consider some healing work. First, psychotherapy is a fantastic option. There are some forms of talk therapy that incorporate inner child work.

Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy

Internal Family Systems (IFS)is a form of therapy that focuses on the different parts of a human being.Each part has a role that it strives to play, even if it results in lackluster coping mechanisms.

Sound familiar? It should—everyone has a younger part that is working to protect the individual as a whole. However, in the same way a 5-year-old isn’t going to be the most skilled in navigating safety concerns and troubleshooting major conflict, the younger part of a person isn’t the best candidate to command one’s daily life decisions. Thus, IFS focuses on bringing all parts of a person’s psyche into harmony.

Psychodynamic Therapy

A clinician can help you learn how to reparent your inner child. However, there are steps you can take on your own. The goal of reparenting is to care for, give, and allow yourself to receive the validation, love, and nurturing that you may not have received in the way that you needed it as a child. Here are some ways to get started:

You can validate the pain that has come from not having your needs met as a kid. Assure your younger self that while you may have been in situations that weren’t safe then, you’re a competent adult who will keep that child part safe at all costs. Nurture that younger self. If you notice you’re triggered and getting flooded with negative emotions, grant yourself patience.

If therapy feels like a cost-prohibitive venture, don’t let that stop you from getting the healing you deserve.Open Path Collectiveis a directory with a wide variety of clinicians who have diverse identities and sessions range from $40 to $80.

If you’re someone with a marginalized identity seeking support, check outInclusive Therapiststo find a provider who can truly understand you. Finding peace is possible and you don’t have to go it alone.

Reparenting in Therapy

4 Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Smith J. Working with the inner child. In: Smith J, ed. Psychotherapy: A Practical Guide. New York, NY: Springer International Publishing; 2017.

Hestbech AM.Reclaiming the inner child in cognitive-behavioral therapy: the complementary model of the personality.APT. 2018;71(1):21-27. doi:10.1176/appi.psychotherapy.20180008

Kneisl CR.Healing the wounded, neglected inner child of the past.Nurs Clin North Am. 1991;26(3):745-755. PMID: 1891407.

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