How is your inner child?

Like the term or not, we all have an 'inner child'.

When we feel well integrated we are able to support, comfort and soothe this child so that it knows it will be okay. For the lucky ones this ability comes naturally; they have internalised a ‘good parent’ from their external parent figures. For others, this may take work and, in a nutshell, my role as a therapist is all about facilitating this process.

Clients come into therapy when their life feels unmanageable. Often, they are anxious, or depressed. Their responses to others feel inappropriate or disproportionate and this is straining their relationships. Their coping strategies like distraction, avoidance or substance use are failing them or the costs are becoming too high.

Their child is calling the shots. It is acting out, unconstrained, unheard and alone. In therapy I hope to help you turn towards and connect with your inner child, restoring or perhaps providing for the first time the good enough parent that it truly needs.

You can then be free to interact with the world from your adult self, which can feel liberating.