What Is Inner Child Work And How Do You Do It?

This was first developed by Carl Jung. It acknowledges the importance of the experiences we had as children, and how those experiences may have impacted our development and how we show up in our lives and relationships today as a result.

It’s useful because:

• It helps us understand ourselves better. Eg: we find relationships stressful if our parents worked long hours, were absent or unpredictable.
• It redirects our focus back to ourselves and our own autonomy and independence, so we’re not looking to our partners to parent us/fix us.
• It accesses our emotions after years of acting them out unknowingly and unconsciously.
• It allows us to develop self-compassion and stops us sabotaging our goals.
• It helps us to let go more, trust, be playful and enjoy life.

What it looks like:

• Acknowledging the young you. Often we’re very young when we’re vulnerable or scared. We can view this as weakness and either ignore or punish ourselves for feeling this way. Now we can bring curiosity and care to this part of us.
• Practicing mindfulness to get in touch with our inner child helps us to be less reactive and critical of ourselves and introduce loving kindness.
• Using toys or symbols from our youth can help us remember our experiences, both wonderful and not-so-wonderful. From there we can recognise how these hurts may be part of our patterns today.
• Journalling from our inner child’s voice can bring surprising revelations. When we’re young we speak openly and honestly.
• Being playful in real life and doing things we loved as a child so we may embrace the joy of youth we perhaps no longer feel connected with.
• ‘Reparenting’ yourself is the work of being nurturing and supportive of yourself as you go about your life, prioritising kindness, patience and care. This is deep and transformative work to truly understand and know yourself.

This is deep and transformative work to truly understand and know yourself.

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