What exactly is the so-called inner child? Really exist? And why should we care? In reality, most of us so-called adults are not really adults.
There are many occasions in which reference is made to our inner child when referring to the essence of oneself. Although we use this expression on many occasions, the reality is that the expression of the inner child in psychology has a much deeper meaning. Do you know if you are really okay with your inner child?
Everyone has an inner child or a part within themselves that reminds us of our childhood. The metaphor of inner child It represents the child we were before becoming the adult we are today. Therefore, the inner child can be defined as the set of attitudes, feelings, values and resources from when we were little. The inner child symbolizes all the potential we carry within, our purest essence of being, the manifestation of love in life. In the socialization process, the child learns to repress emotions and adapt to the environment by integrating beliefs that limit his or her maximum expression of self.
Therefore, when we refer to our inner child, we are pointing out the infantile aspect that lies within our unconscious mind. So much so that when reference is made to healing the inner child It is healing a part of our personality that takes control when faced with a challenge or leaves its comfort zone.
How did the concept of the inner child arise?
He inner child In psychology it is a concept attributed to the psychologist Carl Jung. This specialist developed the so-called child archetype as a way to help us connect to the past, trying to make patients reconnect with the experiences and emotions of when they were children. From this concept that Jung developed, many psychologists took the idea of the inner child to use it in conjunction with psychoanalysis techniques.
Why is it important to take care of our inner child?
The real child that we all once were, due to his limitations and inability to resolve experiences that cause him discomfort or that he does not understand, is forced to acquire roles that do not belong to him in order to adapt to the environment as the best possible solution at that moment. Consequently, the child can play roles, leaving the authentic childhood self imprisoned and over time even abandoning it and rejecting it. The positive intention to confine the inner child We see it as the adult self’s way of protecting him from that emotional wound he had in his childhood. Therefore the inner child in psychology can be damaged because of the following attitudes in our childhood.
Emotional deficiencies: The role acquired at the time as protection and adaptation to an emotional deficiency becomes, over time, a non-adaptive unconscious behavior that manifests itself in adulthood. For example, a child who has learned in the past to receive love from the role of the good child may acquire the belief of “I have to be good and please everyone to be worthy of love” and have repetitive behaviors such as not setting limits in your environment for fear that they will abandon you or not give you that love. One way to get an idea of the type of relationship we have with our inner child is by observing how we relate to other children, children, cousins…
Rejection of a part of us: The path to our inner child It begins precisely by identifying behaviors, feelings, emotions, symptoms, reactions, that we repeat systematically and that we reject from ourselves. It is from that look at the part of us that we do not like or do not want to see that communication begins between the adult self and the wounded child self towards a process of transformation, growth and integration.
Disconnection from a part of our past: The connection with this part of us can also help us realize who we were, since it has the records of past experiences, both pleasant and painful, allowing us to grow from what we are and not from our mask or role acquired as protection. .
Know how it is our inner child It will help us heal past wounds from a perspective of love, acceptance and recognition of ourselves. This will facilitate a greater integration of parts of us, making us grow in our potential and resources as people to enjoy our lives more.
In reality, most of us so-called adults are not really adults. It is a fact that the years pass for everyone on a chronological level, but, psychologically speaking, this does not imply that we become adults. True adulthood is about recognizing, accepting and assuming the responsibility of loving and caring for the own inner child
Why is it important to connect with the inner child?
Although it may seem like a part of our past, the inner child can offer you a way to solve certain aspects of your personality that you have not yet faced. So much so that many times healing the inner child It involves finding the roots of the problems you suffer during adulthood. Working with this unconscious part of you can help you in the following aspects:
Why is the inner child an important concept?
The inner child can help us see some of our emotional and psychological shortcomings, among the most significant of which are the following:
Discover and release repressed emotions that hold you back
Help you recognize certain unmet needs
Help you analyze useless patterns
Raise your self-esteem
Develop more creativity and sense of love
Most of the exercises that help you connect with your inner child occur through therapy with a psychology professional. Even so, there are some methods with which you can get closer to your inner child
How to heal my inner child?
There are some methods that can help you reconnect with your past now. heal your inner child
Reconnect with your childhood: A good method for heal the inner child It is ‘traveling in time’ and returning to your childhood. To do this, you can write a list of things that brought you joy when you were younger. Based on what you have written, you should spend some time daydreaming and reliving those experiences as if you were living them now.
Analyze your past: Examining what happened in your past is a good way to begin to solve the problems that come from that time and that may have affected your life. inner child
Pay more attention to your feelings: Many times we go through life in an almost automatic way. Therefore, a good method to heal the inner child will be to try to analyze and pay more attention to our feelings and emotions. On certain occasions these reveal information to us that we may have overlooked.
Become aware of your inner critic: You may not realize it, but there are many cases in which our most critical voice prevents us from enjoying ourselves. For this same reason it is vital to give more attention to our inner child than to the part that represses it.
Be aware of your inner critic: One of the biggest challenges I faced when spending time with my inner child was feeling like a fool for doing it. I’m an adult now and it seemed silly to try to connect with the feelings I had as a child. This was my inner critic speaking. It is important to listen to this voice, at the same time as listening to the voice of your inner child All of these voices deserve to be heard, and by listening to them, you will give them the space to shape how you feel today.
Inner Child Meditation: Meditating has many benefits for our mental health. In addition, there is a specific meditation to try to heal our inner child To do it you must follow the following steps:
Breathe deeply and relax.
Allow yourself to witness your thoughts.
Ask your question. Example: “Dear inner child, when was the first time I experienced trauma in my life?”
Allow yourself to witness the thoughts rising and falling within your mind. Your inner child may or may not decide to reveal the answer to you.
Remember to be patient, loving and tolerant.
If your inner child doesn’t want to reveal the answer, embrace it. It is important that your inner child feels safe, secure and ready.
Repeat this process until you find that you are calmer with yourself. Most of the answers you get come from your most unconscious part and may answer why you are suffering from your inner child
To return to awaken our inner child It can be vital to enjoying all aspects of our lives again. The innocence of childhood is essential to benefit from everything around us.
