Take the Inner Child Quiz - Rachel Devine

Taking an inner child quiz can be the first step towards identifying and healing emotional wounds from your past. Studies show that a surprising number of adults experience the lingering effects of childhood trauma and stress. Unresolved issues from our early years often manifest in adulthood through struggles like addiction, anxiety, depression, and relationship conflicts. However, most people do not correlate inner child wounds with present day issues like depression and addictions. Furthermore, most people don’t even believe in the inner child factor. This is unfortunate because so much clarity and healing can be revealed with some foreknowledge. Let’s look at this in a comprehensive manner before embarking on an inner child quiz.

Finding the source of dysfunction

Addictions, anger issues, chronic fears, anger issues, and other adult dysfunctions frequently arise from childhood emotional wounds around topics like self-worth, security, and emotional needs not being met. Tracing back to the origins provides clarity and focus for unraveling these patterns. It sheds light on the actual patterns from childhood, helping one understand the root cause of their adult issues.

Statistics on Inner Child Wounds

Studies show 60% of adults of adults report experiencing abuse or other difficult family circumstances during
childhood. 26% of children will witness or experience a traumatic event before they turn four. About one-quarter of adults experience three or more adverse childhood experiences that can lead to emotional trauma.

A 2019 Harris poll found that 64% of American adults have inner child wounds that affect their happiness. The most common wound stemmed from emotional neglect, reported by 19% of adults.

These are just a few fascinating statistics on inner child wounds and their impact on adulthood can be more devastating than the original infraction!

Why Our Inner Child Impacts Our Adult Selves

Unmet childhood needs like connection, safety, validation, trust, and love often are the culprit behind our inner child wounds and resurface through some of the following issues:

● Addictive behaviors like alcoholism, drug abuse, gambling, and unhealthy attachments that fill a void or numb painful feelings from childhood on a subconscious level.

● Anxiety and depression result from core feelings of not being good enough, blaming oneself, and struggling with vulnerability.

● Anger issues are tied to growing up feeling unimportant, criticized, threatened, bullied, or powerless.

● Relationship problems due to difficulties with trust, communication, empathy, and respect—all learned in childhood.

These are just some dysfunctions that branch out of our early childhood. Identifying and nurturing your inner child’s unresolved wounds through self-discovery, counseling, therapy or support groups can help you form healthier, happier relationships and break detrimental, repeated cycles traced back to the past. The key to healing the inner child wounds is to recognize the patterns from childhood. The only way to recognize these patterns is to do the inner child work. The benefits of a potential healthy life without addiction or depression is far worth the work invested in your inner child healing. However, it all starts with awareness.

Benefits of Taking an Inner Child Quiz

Awareness happens with a little effort. If you take an inner child quiz you will have increased self-awareness. Understanding your inner child can help you recognize recurring destructive patterns that originated in childhood. An inner child quiz strips away rationalizations and makes you tune into core emotional triggers. It can also help you by pointing out your emotional wounds. Quizzes help uncover specific childhood events or dynamics that shaped your coping mechanisms and beliefs about yourself and the world. Identifying these root causes paves the way for healing. Living in an oblivious state and not understanding why certain core issues are coming from is unfortunate.

In closing, the key to happiness in life is to be aware of the origin of our present day issues. In understanding the patterns from childhood, one is empowered to heal from inner child wounds. The first step to any healing is becoming aware of the problem that needs to be healed. An inner child quiz is the first step to healing.

Take the inner child quiz here.

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.

Amazon review: The book really got deep on how our subconscious mind works and how important it is to not fall into the negativities and train yourself to think positive always . I really enjoyed it and it was very inspirational and really broadened my knowledge of how our minds work . I really recommend it ! Tina

Devine Intervention - Inner Healing Center.

Life coach available.

If you have any questions, please contact Rachel Devine.

Healing Through Shadow Work: Addressing Inner Childhood Trauma - Rachel Devine

Many people carry pain and wounds from childhood trauma that manifest in unhealthy ways. These adult issues come out of left field like anger issues, resentments, shame and fears. Shadow work offers a path to heal these old hurts by embracing the shadow self. There are several ways it helps people process suppressed trauma and restore wholeness. Let’s explore inner child shadow work and how it releases inner child trauma.

What is shadow work?

The "shadow self" refers to aspects of ourselves that we deny or suppress—emotions, needs, desires, and beliefs that feel unacceptable. Shadow work is the practice of bringing conscious awareness to these suppressed parts so they no longer control one's life unconsciously. Trauma gets stored in the subconscious and it’s important to release that trauma in order for its hold on you to vanish.

Shadow work typically includes exercises such as journaling, meditation, and creative expression like art to explore one's repressed thoughts and emotions. By facing the shadow and bringing it out to the light, one can release these neglected parts of themselves and regain power, creativity, and wholeness.

Processing Trauma Through Shadow Work

When children experience trauma—abuse, neglect, loss, or overly critical environments—they adopt coping strategies to survive. This often requires suppressing vulnerability, needs, or feelings to avoid further hurt. These feelings could include anger and fear that get pushed down into the child’s mind without processing the feelings.

Shadow work helps shine light upon these long-buried hurts harbored by one's inner child self so they can be grieved, expressed, and healed consciously. This reduces their control over one's life and helps release them from the subconscious mind. Shadow work can help with inner child healing.

Common inner child shadow techniques

• Inner child dialogues: Expressing suppressed emotions and needs and reparenting one's inner child with compassion.

• Identifying negative core beliefs and rewriting empowering mantras.

• Free writing and art therapy to uncover buried memories and feelings.

• Exploring emotional triggers and their roots in childhood experiences.

• Active imagination: having inner child self-guided visualization.

By gently bringing traumatic memories, emotions, and beliefs into present awareness, they lose their grip over someone. Old survival coping strategies of disassociation or repression give way to embracing grief, vulnerability, and authenticity.

Is shadow work effective for healing trauma?

Research into shadow work remains limited, but psychologists believe exploring the shadow can lead to transformative personal growth and trauma recovery. Case studies show individuals report renewed senses of self-love, personal empowerment, and emotional resilience. Please note, it is imperative to find a therapist that specializes in inner child healing for you to deal with this type of shadow work.

Cindy's Story: Releasing Inner Childhood Pain

Cindy suffered low self-esteem, defensiveness, and fear of intimacy after being severely criticized in childhood. Through her therapist, she wrote letters expressing the feelings and needs buried inside her inner child self that she had long repressed.

She visualized dialogues where she could now meet these needs for love and safety as an adult with her own self-love. Releasing years of shame and grief led Cindy to embody greater compassion towards herself and others. Her self-sabotaging behaviors diminished, and her relationships dramatically improved as she integrated her once-wounded inner child's pain through shadow work.

Conclusion

Shadow work allows people to address the root causes of emotional wounds within the inner child. By compassionately releasing that which lies in darkness, profound healing and empowerment can occur. Further research is still needed, but the evidence and case studies suggest this can transform traumatic childhood pain into greater authenticity and wholeness. Of course, it’s imperative to enlist a good therapist who specializes in inner child shadow work, in order to get the full benefits of healing inner child wounds.

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.

Amazon review: The book really got deep on how our subconscious mind works and how important it is to not fall into the negativities and train yourself to think positive always . I really enjoyed it and it was very inspirational and really broadened my knowledge of how our minds work . I really recommend it ! Tina

Devine Intervention - Inner Healing Center.

If you have any questions, please contact Rachel Devine.

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 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.

7 Steps to Reparent Yourself for Inner Child Healing - Rachel Devine

Many of us carry wounds from childhood—whether from absent, critical, controlling, or even abusive parenting. As adults, we may still hear these hurtful voices from our past, undermining our self-worth. When negative voices come out of left field, you can be sure it is coming from the wounded inner child. The good news is that it is possible to "reparent" and care for your inner child through understanding, compassion, positive affirmations and mindfulness. With commitment to the following steps, you can transform old beliefs and finally give yourself the nurturing you deserve. It is possible to reparent yourself to heal your inner child.

Here are 7 steps to reparent yourself for inner child healing.

1. Get to know your inner child

Start by reflecting on what you were like as a child. What was your temperament? What brought you joy, and what were you sensitive to? What were your interests and talents? What did you need that you perhaps did not receive? By understanding yourself better at younger ages, you can learn how to meet those needs today. Journaling in this area is a great way to get in touch with your inner child and feelings from the past.

2. Communicate love and acceptance

Practice self-compassion by writing letters to yourself at various ages. Tell these different stages of your inner child that you love them unconditionally, not for what they achieved but simply for who they are. Assure them they are enough just as they are. Use some positive words to affirm your inner child like, you are smart, you are beautiful, and you are worthy. This helps release old unsubstantiated shame. Motivational quotations can help too.

3. Identify and validate emotional wounds

Notice when difficult emotions arise in your daily life. Or when the negative voices infringe on your day. Instead of ignoring them or reacting with anger, listen to these voices and understand where they came from. Link them to past rejections, loneliness, betrayals, experiences, trauma or abuse. Say out loud to your inner child, “What happened to you was not fair. I’m here now to support and love you.” Any positive words of support will change the inner feelings that are negative.

4. Learn to meet your needs today

Make a list of what your inner child still hungers for, whether it’s touch, encouragement, love, rest, or play. Brainstorm specific ways you can nourish yourself each day. It may help to picture speaking to your inner child and asking what he or she needs right now. In fact, get a picture of yourself as a child and communicate directly to the picture. It’s easier to love yourself if you can see a picture of you as a beautiful or handsome child. Ask yourself these questions:

• What do I want?

• What will make me happy?

• What can I do to make this happen?

5. Practice positive self-talk

Children believe what adults tell them about themselves. If your parents were critical, rather than echoing those harsh voices from the past, begin building yourself up. Look in the mirror each morning and counter old negatives with truthful positives, for example: “I am worthy. I am capable. I am loveable.”

6. Artistic therapy

A great way to connect with the inner child and do some reparenting is to have some fun through art. Get a coloring book and crayons and have fun with it. Or get some oak tag and draw pictures or create a vision board that outlines how much you are loved and valued. Use positive words, pictures and drawings to create a vision board of self-love and care. Any creative way you choose to bring fun and love into your life will bring you joy and fulfillment.

7. Positive affirmations

Using positive affirmations is an excellent way to reprogram the mind to a positive state. It’s a perfect way to reparent yourself. Saying positive affirmations over and over will override the negative thoughts in your head. Just write out some positive affirmations on some post-its, post them where you can seem them and say them out loud as often as you can. Some affirmations are, I am loved, I am worthy, I am value, etc. Anything you say after the two words, I am, has to always be positive in order to change the mind to a positive state.

Conclusion

Our upbringing definitely shapes us, but it does not define our future. Appreciate the small steps forward on your journey of reparenting. Building new neural positive pathways can gradually transform feelings of unworthiness into empowered self-acceptance. You can create the safe, nurturing home within yourself that you always deserved. Inner child wounds take time to heal. If you feel like you still need help, I offer life coaching, and can help you with reparenting your inner child and other areas.

Rachel Devine is the author or a new book on inner child called, Discover the Power of the Secret Within - Healing your Inner Child to Manifest your Dreams. This book is available now on Amazon.

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Taming the Terror of the Inner Child: Embracing Peace with your Past - Rachel Devine

We all have a wounded inner child from past experiences. Some of us have a higher degree of inner child wounds than others. The wounded inner child, carrying unresolved hurts and fears from the past, can wreak havoc through self-sabotage, anxiety, fears, rage, or addiction in your current world. It can literally be a terrifying experience to encounter the rage of the inner child. There can be unexplained tantrums that happen because of past experiences that erupt out of nowhere. Your decisions in life can be thwarted by your inner child's fears that you are totally unaware of. You might have an addiction that you can’t break as well. However, making peace with this hurt inner part of yourself brings harmony. With love and understanding, the inner child’s tantrums can give way to tranquility and your life will be happy again.

The Wounded Inner Child

According to psychologist and bestselling author John Bradshaw, “We have the need to be respected and understood by our inner children, who still exert a tremendous influence on our everyday lives.” That inner child lives within all of us. When the inner child feels threatened or invalidated, it lashes out in unconscious ways rooted in old defenses or trauma responses in the present day moment. It wreaks havoc with relationships and family and can cause trouble in your work environment.

For example, the inner child may manifest in the present as excessive people-pleasing due to past neglect or doing good deeds to get attention. The inner child pain from the past can be overwhelming and one might numb their emotions through overeating, alcohol, or drugs. These maladaptive patterns provide short-term relief but long-term suffering. There is always this feeling that there is a gaping hole within, and it needs to be fed with drugs, alcohol, people, food, work, or some other way to numb the pain and fill the void. It’s a vicious cycle.

Bradshaw advises, “We must listen to our inner child to find our personal truth.” Only through compassionate inner dialog can you integrate these fragmented parts back into the whole.

Inner Child Healing Meditation

It takes courage to face wounded parts of yourself, but the rewards of inner peace await. Strategies like journaling, talk therapy, and visualization can help reconcile with the inner child. Meditations are also helpful. John Bradshaw boldy suggest going back into your childhood home and sitting with your inner child as a way to be the loving parent of the child. You can recognize a particular time in your childhood where there was trauma and go back in your mind to reparent and love your inner child, offering support and healing. This meditation will work wonders in your present world and bring you some peace. However, it’s like peeling an onion; there are layers of pain from the past that need healing. This inner child work is crucial. The more meditations you do, the more healing will occur.

Have patience, speak reassuringly, and let the inner child be heard. Help reframe old fears and beliefs that no longer serve your adult growth. The goal is not to banish but to integrate the inner child with compassion into your present-day life.

Love your Inner Child

Love can move mountains and heal the most advanced case of inner child dilemma. Love is the answer. Loving yourself is loving your inner child. We need more love in the world, but we also need more love in our own world. Sitting and nurturing your inner child is the most loving thing you can do. Encourage self-care in your life. You probably do a lot of wonderful things for others; do those things for yourself. The most important relationship you will ever have is with yourself. I suggest you get a picture of yourself as a child, put it where you can see it daily, and tell that child how much you are loved.

Mindfulness

It’s important to see the patterns from childhood that affect your life as an adult. Being mindful of what is happening in your life is crucial. Staying in the moment and really seeing what is happening is important, rather than just getting wrapped up in your daily routine without any contemplation. If you have an outburst or can’t lose weight or stop an addiction, it’s time to shine a light to focus on the origin of the problem. It’s important to see the correlation from childhood and present day issues. When you do connect with that little child, you can open up a whole new world of healing. At times, I can actually feel my inner child raging. Those are the times I need to listen very carefully to because something from my past is coming into my present day to get my attention. The key is to listen to it and then act upon it, with the aforementioned meditations, in calming the inner child through loving reparenting techniques.

Inner child therapy

If you have intense anger issues, fears from the past, or addictions, it is a good idea to see a therapist that specializes in the inner child. Opening up the pandora’s box of inner child trauma can be overwhelming. A good therapist is crucial to inner healing. There are many techniques that help clear the brain of past trauma. One very successful tool is brainspotting. It helps bring out the trauma from the subcortical brain to release it. Once the trauma is released it will not have an adverse influence on you anymore.

In conclusion, you possess everything you need to create internal ceasefires. With care and wisdom, you can guide the inner child to trust life again. With the right therapist, and inner child work, healing is possible. Meet this sacred part of yourself with empathy. Connect with your inner child and be the emotionally supportive parent you may never have had. Your relationship with yourself is the most important relationship you will ever have. You have the power to set the stage for profound healing. Once the healing begins, peace will reign in your adult world and you will be free from the terror of the inner child.

Rachel Devine is the author of, The Third Road & Lessons from the Needle in a Haystack, both on Amazon. My new book on the inner child will be out very soon, called Discover the Power of the Secret Within.

Devine Intervention: Inner Healing Center website.