Inner Child Healing Techniques for Emotional Wounds - Rachel Devine
Life has its ups and downs and peaks and valleys. It’s all part of the journey. However, when life becomes more of a burden than a joy, it’s time to take back your life. The center of our adversity often lies in the fact that we have some unfinished business from the past. This unfinished business can creep into our lives in unexpected ways. It usually comes in the form of anger, fear, or mistrust towards a situation or people in our lives. The inner child is usually at the center of the negative emotions that comes out when we least expect it.
There are many negative emotions that come out of childhood. However, let’s take a look at these 3 prominent emotions and see how we can connect them to the inner child healing techniques:
Life has its ups and downs and peaks and valleys. It’s all part of the journey. However, when life becomes more of a burden than a joy, it’s time to take back your life. The center of our adversity often lies in the fact that we have some unfinished business from the past. This unfinished business can creep into our lives in unexpected ways. It usually comes in the form of anger, fear, or mistrust towards a situation or people in our lives. The inner child is usually at the center of the negative emotions that comes out when we least expect it.
There are many negative emotions that come out of childhood. However, let’s take a look at these 3 prominent emotions and see how we can connect them to the inner child healing techniques:
Inner child anger
Inner-child anger is when you have unresolved anger from childhood. This can stem from your parents not being there for you emotionally, or perhaps from getting shamed or bullied. Some people carry around resentments and anger for years from their inner child wounds. Unfortunately, the anger is lying dormant until it is activated by a trigger. A trigger is an emotion come from a past memory and reminds us of a childhood wound. All of a sudden, out of the blue, the anger erupts like a pandora’s box from the past just flipped open. All of this is done on an unconscious level, since our locked emotions are in the subconscious mind, where we don’t have conscious access to.
Inner Child Fear
Inner child fear works in the same way anger does. There is some fear from childhood that was unresolved, and it sits dormant in our subconscious mind. During a trigger, fear erupts. I will give you an example from my own situation when a trigger brought on intense fear.
When I was 7 years old, my grandmother suddenly died. We went to the funeral, and her coffin was open. I remember my mother and her siblings going past the coffin and kissing my grandmother. My mother motioned for me to come to the coffin. I stood in the back of the church, alone and feeling petrified from fear. I was so afraid I would be forced to go up to the coffin. Now, fast forward to 2018, when my beloved and best friend, Luke, who was my Siberian husky, died. His death triggered the incident in the church with my grandmother, and I was filled with fear—the same petrified fear I felt as I stood alone in the back of the church as my mother was beckoning me to go up to the coffin. That was an unresolved fear from childhood that was buried in my subconscious mind, which suddenly erupted when my dog passed away. Thankfully, I was able to work through the intense fear with a very knowledgeable therapist.
Inner Child Mistrust
Again, the same premise applies to inner child mistrust. When a child is in a situation where they were perhaps sexually abused, had parents who were addicts who were not present, or just parents who could not provide a safe living space, this all creates a mistrusting nature. Additionally, it brings on the other two emotions of anger and fear. This can cause havoc in all forms of relationships, from romantic to friendships.
Let’s explore the following 7 inner child healing techniques:
Recognize your inner child through journaling
In order to heal the inner child wounds from the past, the first step is to recognize your inner child as a real part of your life. It is also important to recognize the patterns and what transpired in your childhood. Try to look back on your childhood and identify areas where you may have developed anger, fear, or mistrust. I suggest you look at any issues in your present life and look back on your childhood and journal about any patterns you find. Then, when you have the pattern in place, do some more journaling on how you felt in the past and how you feel now. Trying to recognize a pattern from an incident in childhood that relates to an incident in adulthood is a good starting point. Journaling is a great way to get in touch with your feelings.
Go back to your childhood
The second inner child technique is to go back to an incident in your childhood where your inner child needed support and love. You can go back in time through your imagination and visualization. You can visualize on a time in your life when you really needed someone to be there for you during times of anger, fear, or mistrust. Just sit and put yourself in the scene of what transpired, and be the parent to your inner child. You can speak soothing words to your inner child or hug your inner child in your imagination. This will bring amazing healing and comfort to your inner child. The more you comfort your inner child, the fewer the triggers will be in the future. If you can do this often, you will find some peace with your past.
Feel the feelings
You have to sit with the feelings. It doesn’t feel good to get wrapped up in anger or fear from the past, but it’s crucial to healing. When you sit with your inner child, embrace the emotions. It will help you heal. The only way to heal is to feel the pain from the past and then let it go. It’s a natural process of letting go. You can envision putting the emotion in a balloon and watching it drift away into the sky. Or handing the emotion over to God or your Higher Power.
Lean on your faith
Lean on your Higher Power, or God. It’s important to have a spiritual entity you trust and love to be there with you through this healing process. Stay in prayer, meditate, or light some candles, and stay in faith. Faith is important when one is feeling uneasy. Faith is a guiding light that comforts us in times of vulnerability.
Inner Child Affirmations
Use positive affirmations like "I am worthy of love" or "I deserve to feel safe" or “You are safe and I will take care of you.” This will help to reprogram limiting beliefs from childhood. Visualize the words sinking into your inner child’s heart. Using positive affirmations is a great way to reprogram the subconscious mind to a positive state. It’s also a great way to reparent your inner child.
Inner Child props
Use drawings, photos, or objects to symbolize and interact with your inner child in an experiential reparenting process. You can put a picture of yourself as a child where you can see it daily. Use the picture to tell your inner child how loved he/she is and how much you are going to be there for him or her.
Seek professional help
It is important to get professional help from a therapist or a life coach who specializes in inner child healing. Having someone to bounce off emotions is crucial since unlocking the anger and fear from childhood can be overwhelming. It’s imperative to get a good therapist to help you with this journey. The benefits will far outweigh the emotional pain you may feel from unlocking the inner child. Trauma is usually at the core of our inner child wounds. There are several techniques a good therapist can use to help you.
Many types of therapy are useful for trauma. Some examples of trauma therapy include:
These different techniques can help you with inner child pain in one session. For instance, brainspotting can unlock different negative emotions and trauma from the subconscious mind. Once the trauma is cleared, the fear or anger associated with it also dissipates. However, there are usually layers to unlock, like peeling an onion, so be patient with the process.
In closing, I want to emphasize that these inner child techniques are just suggestions and do not replace professional therapy; they enhance professional therapy. I have used these techniques, and they do work. I have also used therapy to help with inner child wounds. Remember, inner child work is emotionally messy, and you may feel more angry or fearful, but with patience and continued work, you will come out on the other side with a liberated emotional state of happiness and joy.
Rachel Devine is the author of, Discover the Power of the Secret Within - Healing the Inner Child to Manifest your Dreams.
What is Inner Child Healing and How Can it Transform Your Life? Rachel Devine
Inner child healing is a process of emotional and spiritual healing from past inner wounds, trauma, and pain to alleviate adverse negative wounds that continue to affect one’s life as an adult.
Many of us, including myself, have found ourselves either in a rut or with a continuous challenge in life. For instance, you may have wanted to lose weight for years but couldn’t make any progress. Or perhaps you want to start a new business, but you aren’t quite able to get started. Or maybe you have continuous romantic relationship issues. Or perhaps continuous problems with family or work. Usually, these issues stem from blocks that formed from inner wounds from our past. These blocks lay heavy on our subconscious mind, where we are not even aware of the problem.
Buried in each of us is some kind of childhood or past wound that is lying dormant. Unfortunately, these wounds dictate the direction our lives will go. It’s incredible to know that our subconscious mind dictates 95% of our life actions! That’s an astonishing fact to digest. Most of our automatic actions in a day or our decisions are dictated by our subconscious. Therefore, if you have buried wounds in the subconscious mind, these wounds will block you from moving forward in life. The reason these blocks are inhibiting us is that the same old negative tapes are playing in our heads from the past that caused the inner child's subconscious mind wounds.
Inner child healing is a way to get to the root of the problem. There are ways to penetrate the subconscious mind to change it from a negative to a positive way of thinking. The good news is that we can change our subconscious to a positive state that will drive our lives in a positive direction. Inner-child healing is the pathway to that freedom.
Inner child healing is a process of emotional and spiritual healing from past inner wounds, trauma, and pain to alleviate adverse negative wounds that continue to affect one’s life as an adult.
Many of us, including myself, have found ourselves either in a rut or with a continuous challenge in life. For instance, you may have wanted to lose weight for years but couldn’t make any progress. Or perhaps you want to start a new business, but you aren’t quite able to get started. Or maybe you have continuous romantic relationship issues. Or perhaps continuous problems with family or work. Usually, these issues stem from blocks that formed from inner wounds from our past. These blocks lay heavy on our subconscious mind, where we are not even aware of the problem.
Buried in each of us is some kind of childhood or past wound that is lying dormant. Unfortunately, these wounds dictate the direction our lives will go. It’s incredible to know that our subconscious mind dictates 95% of our life actions! That’s an astonishing fact to digest. Most of our automatic actions in a day or our decisions are dictated by our subconscious. Therefore, if you have buried wounds in the subconscious mind, these wounds will block you from moving forward in life. The reason these blocks are inhibiting us is that the same old negative tapes are playing in our heads from the past that caused the inner child's subconscious mind wounds.
Inner child healing is a way to get to the root of the problem. There are ways to penetrate the subconscious mind to change it from a negative to a positive way of thinking. The good news is that we can change our subconscious to a positive state that will drive our lives in a positive direction. Inner-child healing is the pathway to that freedom.
Inner child healing is possible.
Techniques for inner child healing:
Journaling and Self-Reflection: Writing about one's thoughts, feelings, and experiences can promote self-awareness and facilitate the processing of emotions. Journaling can be a powerful tool for inner healing.
Mindfulness and Meditation: Practices such as mindfulness meditation can help individuals cultivate present-moment awareness, reduce stress, and develop a greater sense of inner peace and self-acceptance.
Inner Child Work: This approach involves reconnecting with and nurturing one's inner child, the part of the self that experienced wounds or traumas in childhood. It can involve visualization, inner dialogues, or symbolic activities. It is recommended that you do this inner child work with a professional.
Energy Healing Techniques: Some individuals find techniques like the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), Reiki, brainspotting, or other energy healing modalities helpful in releasing emotional blockages and promoting inner healing.
Support Groups: Participating in support groups with individuals who have had similar experiences can provide a sense of community, validation, and shared understanding, which can be invaluable in the healing process.
Inner Healing Therapy and Counseling: Working with a qualified therapist or counselor can provide a safe and supportive environment for exploring and addressing past wounds. Modalities such as cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), psychotherapy, or trauma-focused therapies can be highly effective.
It's important to note that inner child healing is a deeply personal journey, and different techniques may resonate with different individuals. It's often helpful to explore various approaches and seek guidance from qualified professionals to find the most effective path to healing and growth.
Happy & healthy father and son.
Benefits of inner child healing:
Emotional Freedom: Inner child healing helps individuals release emotional baggage, such as fear, anger, resentment, or shame, that may have been carried from past experiences. This emotional freedom allows for a more positive and fulfilling life.
Improved Relationships: By addressing and healing past wounds, individuals can develop healthier relationships with themselves and others. They become more capable of trust, intimacy, and effective communication.
Increased Self-Awareness and Self-Acceptance: The process of inner healing often involves gaining a deeper understanding of oneself, including one's strengths, weaknesses, and core values. This self-awareness can lead to greater self-acceptance and self-compassion.
Reduced Stress and Anxiety: Unresolved emotional wounds can contribute to chronic stress, anxiety, depression, and even physical health issues. Inner healing can help alleviate these symptoms by addressing their underlying causes.
Personal Growth and Transformation: Inner healing facilitates personal growth and transformation by allowing individuals to let go of limiting beliefs, patterns, and behaviors that no longer serve them. This can lead to a greater sense of purpose, meaning, and fulfillment in life.
Moving Forward with Goals: Inner healing helps one to remove blocks that previously were in the way of goals of perhaps losing weight or starting a healthy relationship. It’s important to release the past wounds and the blocks that are stopping us from having a successful and fulfilling life.
As you can see the potential benefits to inner child healing is unlimited and each individual will benefit in their own personal way.
Conclusion:
Remember one thing: It’s okay to ask for help in life. We only have one life to live. It’s so important to live life to the fullest. Why would anyone want to live a mediocre life of mundane routine living the shadows of the inner child when they can live their life to the optimal state of being? There is a little work involved in inner child healing; however, as you can see from this article, the benefits are priceless.
Rachel Devine is the author of a new inner child book called Discover the Power of the Secret Within: Healing Your Inner Child to Manifest Your Dreams.
Take the Inner Child Quiz and see if you have past wounds affecting you as an adult.
Devine Intervention: Inner Healing Center Website
Inner Child Therapy Techniques for Healing Rachel Devine
Inner child therapy is a form of psychotherapy that aims to heal the wounds and trauma experienced in childhood. It is based on the belief that everyone has an "inner child" within them that stores all the emotions, fears, beliefs, and memories from childhood. Addressing and healing the inner child can lead to profound changes in one's emotional wellbeing and ability to have healthy relationships. Research has shown that inner child pain is lodged in the body in a physical and emotional way. It makes sense, at a certain point, to address the pain and release it from the body.
Let’s explore different therapies for inner child wounds.
Inner child therapy is a form of psychotherapy that aims to heal the wounds and trauma experienced in childhood. It is based on the belief that everyone has an "inner child" within them that stores all the emotions, fears, beliefs, and memories from childhood. Addressing and healing the inner child can lead to profound changes in one's emotional wellbeing and ability to have healthy relationships. Research has shown that inner child pain is lodged in the body in a physical and emotional way. It makes sense, at a certain point, to address the pain and release it from the body.
Let’s explore different therapies for inner child wounds.
Inner child therapy techniques
Inner child therapy uses a range of techniques to access memories, feelings, and beliefs stored in the inner child. These include guided visualization, journaling, drawing, role-playing, and dialogues between one's adult self and inner child self.
The therapist helps the client tune into repressed or suppressed emotions from childhood and express them in a safe, contained way. This allows the client to address core childhood wounds such as neglect, abuse, loss, criticism, and worthlessness that may still be negatively impacting them today. Expressing the feelings and needs of the inner child that were not met in childhood is profoundly cathartic. Many addictions stem from the inner child void within, that gets addictively filled with either food, alcohol, drugs, working long hours, etc. Inner child therapy is imperative to get to the root of the problem and bring it out into the open where it can lose its hold on you.
The therapist then helps the client nurture and care for the inner child through love, validation, understanding, and reassurance. This helps re-parent and heal the inner child of old shame, fears, or distorted beliefs. Clients discover how to meet their inner child's unmet needs from within themselves. They learn to cultivate self-love, self-acceptance, and healthy boundaries.
Brainspotting
Brainspotting is an experienced technique that brings past emotions and trauma from the subconscious mind to the surface and then it releases the trauma from the body. This is a very effective technique for inner child healing. Additionally, it takes very little time to clear out destructive childhood thoughts that get embedded in the subconscious mind. You can learn more about brainspotting on this link.
Effectiveness of Inner Child Therapy
Research shows that inner child therapy can lead to significant reductions in anxiety, depression, interpersonal difficulties, and insecure attachment. Clients report increased self-esteem, self-compassion, emotional resilience, and the ability to have intimate relationships after inner child healing.
Inner child therapy allows people to rewrite limiting beliefs, detach from the pain of the past, and develop a strong, self-centered sense of self. Transformational personal growth can occur as people peel away layers of protective armor built around the wounded inner child. It is possible to transform your life.
Finding an Inner Child Therapist
It is important to find an inner child therapist who utilizes a holistic, gentle approach. Look for those trained in attachment theory, brainspotting, gestalt therapy, or psychedelic integration. Avoid therapies that force clients to relive trauma in an abrupt manner without adequate support.
Group therapy with other inner child healing clients can provide additional support. However, one-on-one therapy forms the core foundation for safely uncovering deep wounds before group sharing. Research different options and read client testimonials to find the right fit.
The inner child lives within all of us, waiting to be healed. Inner child therapy facilitates this profound healing, allowing people to live with much greater freedom, joy, and authenticity. It takes courage to face your inner wounds, but it can lead to incredible self-awareness and personal transformation.
Rachel Devine is the author of a new inner child book called, Discover the Power of the Secret Within - Healing your Inner Child to Manifest your Dreams. This book is available now on Amazon.
Devine Intervention - Inner Healing Center.
If you have any questions, please contact Rachel Devine.