Working with Inner Child
Over the past 17 years of working as a therapist, it has become clear that more parts of a person emerge during therapy sessions than just their immediate presence. One such component, referred to as the “inner child” by many psychotherapists, emerges. This inner child is a portion of a human that is not always playful, but rather reflects the child within who was born with two major needs: physical needs and loving needs. Attachment problems can emerge if the latter is not met. Within the Clarkson relationship model, the concept of reparenting, or repair, is very important in the process of working with the inner child.
In this therapeutic process, I can provide nurturing support and create a safe environment to help you identify, connect with, and attend to the wounded, lost, or traumatized parts of yourself. I integrate various techniques, such as grounding exercises to empower you with safety and presence, mindful inquiry where we use bodily awareness to listen and connect these parts, and representational work using objects like Russian dolls, toys, drawing and most importantly your imagination, to enable interactions between different dimensions of yourself.
When we find ourselves experiencing exaggerated emotional reactions in our adult lives, it often indicates that a younger part of ourselves has been triggered. By recognizing and addressing these younger parts, we create distance from our emotional reactions, allowing us to provide them with the support they need.
Our inner children, with their lack of experience and early stage of development, their potential wounds and traumas, and their intense feelings of stress, hurt and loss, are ill-equipped to handle the challenges of adulthood. However, we often entrust them with running our lives. Based on my experience, when we take care of our inner children and relieve them of the burdens of adult life, our lives become more empowered. We find ourselves liberated to respond to life more authentically in the present moment as the child within is now feeling safe to be the child.
Working with inner child trauma, I follow what Gabor Maté, a renowned expert in the field of trauma, defines trauma as an experience or event that overwhelms an individual’s capacity to cope and leaves a lasting impact on their emotional, psychological, and physical well-being. According to Maté, trauma is not solely limited to extreme situations like war or abuse but can also arise from more subtle and cumulative sources, such as neglect, emotional invalidation, or a lack of nurturing in childhood. He emphasizes that trauma is not defined by the event itself, but rather by the individual’s subjective experience and their ability to process and integrate the emotions associated with it. Maté views trauma as a fundamental factor in understanding various mental health issues and advocates for a compassionate and holistic approach to healing and recovery.
