Table of Contents
What Is Inner Child Journaling?
It’s a place where you can express your most private thoughts and feelings. It can be like talking to yourself when you journal in your inner child. You are free to write about current events in your life or historical events. Your “inner child” is an aspect of your subconscious that has been absorbing messages long before it was mentally and emotionally mature enough to do so. It contains hopes and dreams for the future as well as feelings, memories, and beliefs from the past. Your inner child is a remnant of your past; it contains wounded, immature parts of your ego. Contrast it not with your Soul, which is whole and complete. It’s time to get back in touch with your soul now that you’re an adult and use your inner power to become whatever you need to be. Becoming more aware of the inner child through therapy or a personal journey can help unearth that pain and ultimately offer healing. Recognizing and accepting things that were painful as a child and bringing them to light to understand their impact now are both necessary for acknowledging the inner child (Raypole, 2021). Exercises that tap into your inner child, such as the butterfly hug, writing letters to your younger self, and self-compassion, can assist in your recovery from traumatic experiences. You can parent and nurture your wounded inner child by engaging in inner child work.
What Does A Common Inner Child Need?
Nurture and love – Often, our inner child needs love and assurance. By using this language with ourselves, we can soothe uncomfortable emotions and give them the sense of security they were missing. The qualities of the inner child Here are a few: trust, liveliness, innocence, curiosity, joy, boldness, clarity, wonder, lightness, purity, playfulness, and openness. These are traits we recognize in young children (which makes them so endearing), but that we somehow seem to have lost in the process of growing up. A happy inner child can tolerate the ups and downs of life and is full of love, connections, and mental fulfillment. They are also able to tolerate pain. Not just smart and “made it” people are successful.
What Triggers Inner Child?
In some cases, the injury to our inner child may be the result of trauma, abuse, or abandonment. When a parent or sibling is ill, when a family is disintegrated, when a child grows up in a broken family, or even when a childhood friend departs, these less obvious causes of pain can also be the cause of pain. Talking about your past and finding closure are typical steps in the inner child work process. Eventually, a weight will be lifted off your shoulders. You’ll start to describe your feelings prior to, during, and following the recall of your experiences, memories, and traumas. People with wounded inner children frequently experience enduring, chronic feelings of emptiness, helplessness, and hopelessness. They may believe they are acting in the name of a false self and that spontaneity and life are absent from their existence. Additionally, they might experience a severe sense of social isolation. Through therapy or a personal journey, one can become more aware of their inner child, allowing that pain to surface and ultimately bringing about healing. Recognizing and accepting things that hurt you as a child and bringing them to light so you can see how they affect you now are both necessary components of acknowledging your inner child (Raypole, 2021). The end result of inner child healing is that you will eventually be able to recognize your own needs, behaviors, and triggers more clearly. You can develop a greater sense of self-compassion and improve your mental health by healing your inner child.
What Hurts Your Inner Child?
Trauma, abuse, or abandonment may occasionally cause a wound to our inner child. When a parent or sibling is ill, when a family is disintegrated, when a child grows up in a broken family, or even when a childhood friend departs, these less obvious causes of pain can also be the cause of pain. Children who are neglected, abused, or emotionally and mentally harmed as children never fully recover from these internal wounds. The child may exhibit undesirable behaviors, such as throwing tantrums, having trouble making friends, and harboring misgivings about other people’s intentions. You might have trouble trusting people, low self-esteem, judgmental fears, a relentless need to please others, angry outbursts, or persistent social anxiety symptoms. Is it possible to recover from childhood trauma?
What Is Inner Child Technique?
Inner child work is a method for identifying and recovering from childhood trauma. It acknowledges that our childhood experiences influence the way we behave as adults. Inner child work focuses on re-parenting ourselves to meet our unmet needs. It is a strategy for addressing the behavioral patterns brought on by trauma, emotional neglect, and abuse during childhood. Inner child work combines various psychological philosophies, such as psychotherapy, somatic therapy, Jungian psychology, attachment theory, and more. Exercises that tap into your inner child, such as the butterfly hug, writing letters to your younger self, and self-compassion, can aid in your recovery from traumatic experiences. Inner child work teaches you how to parent and nurture your hurt inner child.
What Are The Three Types Of Inner Child?
There are three different kinds of inner child trauma that children experience at the hands of their caregivers and that result in later adult injury. Neglect can take the form of physical, emotional, or psychological neglect. Our inner child may occasionally be wounded as a result of trauma, abuse, or abandonment. Other times, the cause of the pain may be less obvious, such as unmet emotional needs, a parent or sibling’s illness, growing up in a dysfunctional family, or even a childhood friend moving away. The primal need that a daughter has for her mother’s love doesn’t lessen with her mother’s absence. Lack of trust and confidence, trouble setting boundaries, and being overly sensitive are examples of wounds. Daughters of unloving mothers may unintentionally replicate the maternal bond in other relationships.
What Happens If You Ignore Your Inner Child?
Your inner child will find a way out. Anxiety, depression, PTSD, emotional dysregulation, impulsivity, outbursts, difficulty functioning, and social withdrawal are some of its possible manifestations. Ignoring it only makes it stronger. It frequently tries to alert you that something is wrong. When you believe you no longer require it, your inner child disappears. You go off your rocker when you give in to social pressures, when you become a little too self-aware, and when you start to worry that people are going to start making fun of you.