Being Well with Forrest Hanson and Dr. Rick Hanson

Healing Your Inner Child

Oct 28, 2024

Dive into the fascinating world of the inner child, a part of us that holds both creativity and unresolved emotions. Explore how childhood experiences shape adult behaviors and relationships. Discover techniques like voice dialogue and reparenting to heal old wounds. Learn the importance of nurturing self-compassion and addressing unmet needs. Gain insights into balancing playful desires with adult realities. This engaging discussion is packed with practical strategies for fostering emotional growth and deeper self-awareness.

01:34:14

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Quick takeaways

The inner child embodies both the joyful and wounded aspects of our identity, impacting our adult behaviors and relationships.

Healing the inner child involves recognizing and addressing unmet needs and past wounds that influence current emotional responses.

Engaging in inner child work includes practices like reparenting and creative expression to foster playfulness and emotional healing.

Deep dives

Understanding the Inner Child

The inner child represents the part of us that retains emotions, beliefs, and experiences from childhood. This concept can be perceived in various ways, such as the playful and curious aspects of our personality or as an accumulation of past wounds influencing our current behavior. It can be helpful to recognize that the inner child is not only shaped by the nurturing or neglect we experienced but is also a distinct aspect of our personality with its own thoughts and feelings. Embracing this part of ourselves allows for a deeper understanding of how these childhood experiences continue to affect our thoughts and actions in adulthood.

Intro

3min

Exploring the Inner Child

8min

Healing the Inner Child: A CBT Perspective

24min

Investing in Health and Healing the Inner Child

6min

Reparenting the Inner Child

14min

Navigating Inner Dynamics

21min

Healing the Inner Child

17min

Engaging with Personal Journeys and Listener Feedback

1min

We all have an "inner child:” the part of ourselves that carries the emotions, beliefs and experiences from our early years. While this aspect of ourselves can be a source of creativity, playfulness and wonder, it might also harbor unresolved wounds that affect our adult relationships and behaviors. In this episode, Dr. Hanson and Forrest explore what the inner child really is, how it manifests in our lives, and practical ways to work with this important part of ourselves. They discuss how to identify inner child wounds, demonstrate techniques like voice dialogue, and share strategies for bringing more awareness and healing to our younger selves.

You can watch this episode on YouTube.

Key Topics:

0:00: Introduction

1:20: What is the inner child?

7:30: How the inner child shows up in our adult lives

10:40: A CBT-ish way of thinking about the inner child

16:40: Unmet needs, and examples of inner child wounds

21:45: Promoting the positive aspects of the inner child

28:50: How to begin engaging with the inner child

35:30: Shame, and turning toward yourself

39:00: Reparenting

46:30: Voice Dialogue demonstration

1:00:15: Reflections on the demonstration

1:06:00: Other approaches, and reasons you might be having a hard time

1:09:25: Rage and release, looking at pictures, and creating an autobiography

1:14:00: Balancing the inner child's desires with the realities of life

1:20:10: Recap

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