The point of this article is to help you get into a reflective space and to hopefully learn how to reconnect with your wounded inner child . If you are interested in welcoming home your inner child , I want you to reflect on your own childhood , the timeline of your early years , and how you felt as a child .
Did you feel safe ? Did you feel a sense of belonging in your family ? Were you permitted to be you ? What is your current relationship like with your inner child ?
All of these questions are extremely important to ask , and if you haven ’ t asked them yet , I hope you do . Why am I so insistent about you asking these questions and exploring this topic ? The reason is that inner child work is one of the most healing and profound forms of inner work you can do . So much of our behaviour , aversions , and neuroses in the present can be solved by exploring , embracing , and communicating with the inner child .
If you ’ d like to go deeper into this topic , I highly recommend reading John Bradshaw ’ s book on the inner child called Homecoming . I thank his work for the inspiration it provided me while writing this article .
What is the Inner Child ?
The inner child is the part in your psyche that still retains its innocence , creativity , awe , and wonder toward life . Quite literally , your inner child is the child that lives within you – within your psyche that is . Regardless of whether you ’ re 18 or 80 , no matter how old or mature you are , you will have an inner child . The inner child is one of the many faces of your psyche . How is it possible that we can still carry a child within us ? The answer is that at a core level , we are all multi-dimensional and multi-faceted people . Psychologist Carl Jung called the energies that reside within us archetypes and one of the primary archetypes that all human beings possess is that of The Child . It is so crucial that we learn how to stay connected with this sensitive part of ourselves . When we are connected to our inner child , we feel excited , invigorated , and inspired by life . When we are disconnected , we feel lethargic , bored , unhappy , and empty inside .
How Does Our Inner Child Become Wounded ?