{"id":18094,"date":"2022-10-11T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-10-10T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/?post_type=purple_issue&p=18094"},"modified":"2022-11-02T12:49:28","modified_gmt":"2022-11-02T11:49:28","slug":"your-inner-child-what-is-it-whats-up-with-it-and-does-it-need-healing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/2022\/10\/11\/your-inner-child-what-is-it-whats-up-with-it-and-does-it-need-healing\/","title":{"rendered":"Your inner child: What is it, what’s up with it and does it need healing?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

YOUR INNER CHILD:<\/span><\/h3>\n\n

WHAT IS IT, WHAT\u2019S UP WITH IT AND DOES IT NEED HEALING?<\/h3>\n\n

Recent online articles have listed the signs that reveal your inner child is wounded, or that your inner child needs healing. But is there any real psychology behind this? <\/p>\n\n

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H<\/span>ave you noticed the spate of advice articles claiming to help you tap into your \u2018inner child\u2019? Some of them suggest this inner infant could be to blame for your relationship troubles, and there are others that promise to show you ways to start \u2018healing the wounds\u2019 your child within may have suffered. Online influencers are apparently tuned into the trend \u2013 you can find many of them posting photos of themselves riding tricycles or doing other seemingly childish things alongside boasts that they\u2019re tapping into their inner child. So, what\u2019s this all about \u2013 do we really have such a thing as an \u2018inner child\u2019? And do you need to heal it? <\/p>\n\n

WHAT IS AN INNER CHILD?<\/span><\/strong><\/h5>\n\n

The answer is that it depends on who you ask, and on whether you\u2019re being literal or metaphorical. A hard-nosed neuroscientist might dismiss the idea of an inner child as fanciful. But in other fields the notion of an inner child is long established. Both Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung referred to an \u2018inner child\u2019 in their writings, and for several decades now, many serious schools of psychotherapy have taught that, as adults, we have a child within. The late US self-help evangelist and best-selling author John Bradshaw also gave the concept a popular boost with his 1990 book Homecoming: <\/em>Reclaiming <\/em>And <\/em>Championing <\/em>Your <\/em>Inner <\/em>Child. <\/em><\/p>\n\n

WHAT DO PSYCHOLOGISTS SAY? <\/span><\/strong><\/h5>\n\n

The different therapy schools describe this \u2018mini me\u2019 of the psyche in various ways. For instance, there\u2019s internal family systems therapy (IFS), developed by the US therapist Robert Schwartz in the 1980s. IFS states that we have a multiplicity of \u2018parts\u2019 within us, one of which is our inner child \u2013 or even inner children \u2013 which is the different aspects of ourselves formed at different ages, each with its own memories and emotions. Crucially, this approach teaches that if you suffer some kind of trauma or abuse early in life, then this experience can wound one or more of your child parts. You carry this wound with you through life and it can potentially cause conflict between the different parts of yourself.<\/p>\n\n

A related but distinct approach comes from what\u2019s known as schema therapy, developed by the US psychologist Jeffrey Young in 1990. It states that we all have various modes for relating to other people and the world, some of which are \u2018child modes\u2019, such as the \u2018vulnerable child\u2019 or the \u2018angry child\u2019. In times of emotional stress, we can regress to these modes, especially if we experienced trauma or neglect early in life. <\/p>\n\n

\u201cA hard-nosed neuroscientist might dismiss the idea of an inner child as fanciful. But in other fields the notion is long established\u201d <\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n

These ideas are also connected in various ways to \u2018attachment theory\u2019, which sees the way we conduct our adult relationships as being shaped, at least in part, by the ways we were treated by our caregivers as children. So, drawing on attachment theory, a therapist might help a client look back to their childhood relationships, especially if they were harmful, and help them to develop new, more secure ways of relating to other people. <\/p>\n\n

Of course, the most mainstream and popular therapy today is probably cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and this approach can be linked to the concept of an inner child too. For instance, one aspect of CBT is about identifying and challenging unhelpful \u2018automatic thoughts\u2019 that spring to mind, such as \u201cI\u2019m bound to make a fool of myself\u201d. In a 2018 article in the <\/span>American <\/em>Journal <\/em>Of <\/em>Psychotherapy, <\/em>a pair of CBT practitioners argued that these sorts of automatic thoughts might helpfully be thought of as learned early in life and then incorporated into your \u2018child mode\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

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Your younger self may have experienced something that\u2019s affecting the way you live as an adult <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n
CAN AN INNER CHILD BE HEALED?<\/span><\/strong><\/h5>\n\n

Psychotherapeutic approaches that believe in an inner child use various techniques to help people connect with and heal this aspect of themselves. For instance, a therapist who practices IFS therapy will help their client or patient improve the relationships between the different parts of themselves \u2013 including by bringing the \u2018manager\u2019 parts into conversation with the \u2018exiles\u2019, which can include the inner child or children from earlier in life. They\u2019ll likely also help clients come to terms with traumatic events from their past \u2013 to heal the inner child. <\/p>\n\n

Meanwhile, a therapist using schema therapy might use a therapeutic technique known as \u2018chairwork\u2019. This exercise sees them place two chairs opposite each other and invite a client to take one chair and ask them to adopt a \u2018healthy adult mode\u2019, so they can speak to and nurture their \u2018vulnerable child mode\u2019, which they imagine is sitting in the empty chair opposite. <\/p>\n\n

So, what to make of the online pop-advice articles that promise to help you heal your inner child? In reality, it\u2019s difficult to engage in this kind of deep therapeutic work alone \u2013 and if you have experienced serious trauma in the past, it\u2019s especially sensible to take great care and consider consulting a mental health professional. These notes of caution aside, many of the popular articles use the notion of an inner child simply to encourage readers to practise self-compassion (nurturing themselves as they would a vulnerable child) or to think about and challenge harmful selfbeliefs they might have internalised when they were younger \u2013 all of which seems fairly innocuous. <\/p>\n\n

by DR <\/strong>CHRISTIAN <\/strong>JARRETT <\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Christian is a psychology and neuroscience writer. His latest book is Be Who You Want: Unlocking The Science Of Personality Change<\/em> (\u00a314.99, Robinson). <\/p>\n\n

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\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Visit the BBC\u2019s Reality Check<\/em> website at bit.ly\/reality_check_ <\/a><\/span>or follow them on Twitter @BBCRealityCheck<\/a><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>\n\n

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