Inner child

Briefly, the inner child is everything we learned or felt during our childhood. It is part of our personality, but it is reflected more in our unconscious behavior.

Its origins are closed to the psychologist Carl Jung and its child archetype.

By different therapeutic techniques, each person will take care of its unresolved childhood experiences and it will pay attention to its physical, emotional, and psychological needs.

Every child deserves to feel safe. If you recognize yourself as a child on the following things, maybe it helps if you do a little bit of introspection on your inner child:

• You were not allowed to express your own opinions.
• You were asked to be quiet when trying to speak up.
• You were taught that it’s not ok to show your emotions or to appreciate yourself.
• You were verbally criticized / abused.
• You didn’t receive physical affection.

So, what we can do?

First, to be aware of our inner child. What are our unfulfilled needs or frustration from childhood (eg. for love, protection, understanding)? What traumas or disappointments we had during that time?

Being an adult means to understand that those days are over, to accept what was done and to feed that needs. It helps us to work for the reconciliation between the inner child and the mature adult.

Talk to your inner child and appreciate yourself. If you can’t, find a friend who can support you.

In the end, I want to recommend two books on this theme: for the Romanian readers - Gaspar Gyorgy, but also Stefanie Stahl.

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