{"id":17194,"date":"2017-03-28T11:00:56","date_gmt":"2017-03-28T10:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/?p=17194"},"modified":"2023-03-13T16:07:53","modified_gmt":"2023-03-13T16:07:53","slug":"inner-child-work-can-benefit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/inner-child-work-can-benefit.htm","title":{"rendered":"Inner Child Work – What Is It and Can You Benefit?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By: Internet Archive Book Images<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

by Andrea M. Darcy<\/span><\/p>\n

‘Working with your inner child’ can sound a bit out there.<\/p>\n

But the inner child is a psychotherapeutic concept that arose with Jung<\/a>, and many therapists use forms of inner child work as a powerful tool to help clients.<\/strong> Could you benefit?<\/em><\/p>\n

What is ‘inner child work’?<\/h2>\n

We were all at one time children. And the child you once were did not just up and vanish, to be <\/strong>replaced by a perfectly formed, always responsible adult.<\/p>\n

Indeed, most of us act very much like children at least now and then. It’s in the moment you have a<\/strong> temper tantrum over a parking ticket, or fall into a panicky sense of abandonment <\/a>when you learn your partner is going off for a three-week business trip.<\/p>\n

And some of us, if we had a tough or loveless childhood, are actually children most (if not all) of the time.<\/strong> We might look like an adult, but inside is an angry five-year old who trusts no one and is secretly calling the shots.<\/p>\n

In psychology, this part of your unconscious that represents the child you once were,<\/strong> and manifests as a sort of ‘other personality’ in social interactions, is often referred to as the ‘inner child’. (A more in-depth explanation is found in our connected article, ‘What is the Inner Child<\/a>?’).<\/p>\n

‘Inner child work’ is work you do either by yourself or with a therapist to resolve the childhood emotions and experiences this ‘inner child’ still holds, as well as harness the joy, innocence, and confidence that were your birthright. <\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What does ‘inner child work’ really involve, though?<\/h2>\n
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By: Randen Pederson<\/p><\/div>\n

Different types of therapists<\/a>, counsellors, and coaches <\/a>will have different approaches to inner child work.<\/p>\n

Your therapist might not even call the process ‘inner child work’, but instead something along the lines of<\/strong> ‘healing the child within’ or ’embracing your child archetype’. You might even be doing inner child work under the guise of ‘shadow work’. Often it is as a child that we learn to repress things like sadness and anger that then become the hidden shadow.<\/p>\n

Really, inner child work is any form of self discovery that helps you access the child you once were, along with the experiences and emotions that child was taught to repress. The general idea of inner child work is that that if you make an effort to contact, listen to and communicate with, and nurture your inner child, you can find and heal the roots of your issues as an adult.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Inner child work might take the form of:<\/strong><\/p>\n