popular psychology Popular psychology (sometimes shortened as pop psychology or pop psych) is the concepts and theories about human mental life and behavior that are purportedly based on psychology and that find credence among and pass muster with the populace. The ...

and

analytical psychology Analytical psychology ( de , Analytische Psychologie, sometimes translated as analytic psychology and referred to as Jungian analysis) is a term coined by Carl Jung, a Swiss psychiatrist, to describe research into his new "empirical science" ...

, the inner child is an individual's childlike aspect. It includes what a person learned as a

child A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person young ...

, before

puberty Puberty is the process of physical changes through which a child's body matures into an adult body capable of sexual reproduction. It is initiated by hormonal signals from the brain to the gonads: the ovaries in a girl, the testes in a ...

. The inner child is often conceived as a semi-independent subpersonality subordinate to the waking conscious mind. The term has therapeutic applications in counseling and health settings. The concept became known to a broader audience through books by John Bradshaw and others.

Origins

Psychologist

Carl Gustav Jung Carl Gustav Jung ( ; ; 26 July 1875 – 6 June 1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who founded analytical psychology. Jung's work has been influential in the fields of psychiatry, anthropology, archaeology, literature, philo ...

(1875–1961) originated the concept in his divine child archetype.

New Thought The New Thought movement (also Higher Thought) is a spiritual movement that coalesced in the United States in the early 19th century. New Thought was seen by its adherents as succeeding "ancient thought", accumulated wisdom and philosophy from ...

spiritual leader Emmet Fox (1886–1951) called it the "wonder child". The concept of the inner child was further developed by husband and wife team Vivian and

Arthur Janov Arthur Janov (; August 21, 1924October 1, 2017), also known as Art Janov, was an American psychologist, psychotherapist, and writer. He gained notability as the creator of primal therapy, a treatment for mental illness that involves repeatedly de ...

primal therapy Primal therapy is a trauma-based psychotherapy created by Arthur Janov, who argues that neurosis is caused by the repressed pain of childhood trauma. Janov argues that repressed pain can be sequentially brought to conscious awareness for resolut ...

, expounded in the books ''The Primal Scream'' (1970) and ''The Feeling Child'' (1973). One method of

reparenting Reparenting is a form of psychotherapy in which the therapist actively assumes the role of a new or surrogate parental figure for the client, in order to treat psychological disturbances caused by defective, even abusive, parenting. The underlying ...

the inner child in therapy was originated by art therapist

Lucia Capacchione Lucia Capacchione (born 3 November 1937) is an Italian-American psychologist, art therapist, former graphic designer and a writer who has been bestseller of twenty-two books based on child therapy and self-help, including ''The Creative Journal ...

in 1976 and documented in her book ''Recovery of Your Inner Child'' (1991). Using art therapy and journaling techniques, her method includes a "nurturing parent" and "protective parent" within "inner family work" to care for a person's physical, emotional, creative and spiritual needs (her definition of the inner child). It also posits a "critical parent within" and provides tools for managing it.

Charles L. Whitfield Charles L. Whitfield was an American medical doctor in private practice specializing in assisting survivors of childhood trauma with their recovery, and with addictions including alcoholism and related disorders. He was certified by the American ...

dubbed the inner child the "child within" in his book ''Healing the Child Within: Discovery and Recovery for Adult Children of Dysfunctional Families'' (1987). Penny Park's book ''Rescuing the Inner Child'' (1990) provided a program for contacting and recovering the inner child. In his television shows, and in books such as ''Homecoming: Reclaiming and Championing Your Inner Child'' (1990), John Bradshaw, a U.S. educator,

pop psychology Popular psychology (sometimes shortened as pop psychology or pop psych) is the concepts and theories about human mental life and behavior that are purportedly based on psychology and that find credence among and pass muster with the populace. The ...

and

self-help Self-help or self-improvement is a self-guided improvement''APA Dictionary of Physicology'', 1st ed., Gary R. VandenBos, ed., Washington: American Psychological Association, 2007.—economically, intellectually, or emotionally—often with a subs ...

movement leader, used "inner child" to point to unresolved childhood experiences and the lingering dysfunctional effects of childhood dysfunction: the sum of mental-emotional memories stored in the sub-conscious from conception thru pre-puberty.

Further developments

Within the framework of

psychosynthesis Psychosynthesis is an approach to psychology that expands the boundaries of the field by identifying a deeper center of identity, which is the postulate of the Self. It considers each individual unique in terms of purpose in life, and places value ...

, the inner child is often characterized as a subpersonality or may also be seen as a central element surrounded by subpersonalities. Internal Family Systems therapy (IFS therapy) posits that there is not just one inner child sub-personality, but many. IFS therapy calls wounded inner child sub-personalities "exiles" because they tend to be excluded from waking thought in order to avoid/defend against the pain carried in those memories. IFS therapy has a method that aims to gain safe access to a person's exiles, witnessing the stories of their origins in childhood, and healing them.

References

{{Jung, state=collapsed Analytical psychology Popular psychology

Origins

Further developments

See also

References