Editing Inner child (section)

==Therapeutic Approaches==
A range of therapeutic modalities incorporates the concept of the inner child to address emotional wounds rooted in early life experiences.

Bradshaw’s Recover Therapy is designed to help patients reconnect with their inner child to address maladaptive emotional and behavioural patterns developed with early childhood experiences. It involves [[group therapy]] and the practice of [[reparenting]]. Group therapy allows group members to express themselves and receive peer feedback to learn new behaviours and interactions that can be transferred to the real world. Reparenting means learning to acknowledge and love one's inner child. This allows an individual to offer oneself the care and support that may have been absent in childhood, improving emotional stability. <ref name="Bradshaw2005">Bradshaw, J. (2005). ''Healing the Shame That Binds You''. Health Communications.</ref>

The concept of the inner child is also present in [[psychosynthesis]] and [[psychotherapy]]. Within the framework of [[psychosynthesis]], the inner child is often characterized as a subpersonality<ref name="DohertyGuyler2008-p88">{{cite book|author1=Nora Doherty|author2=Marcelas Guyler|title=The Essential Guide to Workplace Mediation & Conflict Resolution: Rebuilding Working Relationships|url=https://archive.org/details/essentialguideto0000dohe|url-access=registration|year=2008|publisher=Kogan Page Publishers|isbn=978-0-7494-5019-9|pages=[https://archive.org/details/essentialguideto0000dohe/page/88 88]}}</ref> or may also be seen as a central element surrounded by subpersonalities.<ref name="Rosen2010-p43">{{cite book|author=Abby Rosen|title=Lasting Transformation: A Guide to Navigating Life's Journey|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mCs-UfzXhfwC&pg=PA43|date=18 June 2010|publisher=BalboaPress|isbn=978-1-4525-0008-9|pages=43}}</ref> Therapy in this tradition aims to bring these inner parts into the conscious part of the personality and foster their integration in a more unified self. 

[[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.

[[Cognitive-behavioural therapy]] (CBT), although not traditionally centred on the concept of the inner child, shares some conceptual similarities. [[Aaron Beck]]’s discovery of automatic thoughts emphasises how early experiences shape ongoing emotional and behavioural patterns. Beck found that these automated processes can be brought into conscious awareness and examined during therapy. These automatic thoughts can be seen as manifestations of the "inner child" in the adult self. <ref name="Hestbech2018">Hestbech, A. M. (2018). Reclaiming the inner child in cognitive-behavioral therapy: The complementary model of the personality. ''American Journal of Psychotherapy, 71''(1), 21–27. [https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.psychotherapy.20180008 https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.psychotherapy.20180008]</ref> In CBT, individuals can identify and modify beliefs and behaviours shaped by childhood experiences. This process parallels inner child therapy in its focus on addressing patterns rooted in childhood to support emotional well-being and behavioural change.

[[Music therapy]] may also incorporate inner child work. Techniques such as vocal holding and regression are used to access repressed emotions and experiences. Therapeutic regression enables clients to revisit events, regain lost feelings, and reunite pieces of themselves. Vocal holding can evoke a pre-verbal, early-attachment phase in a client’s life because no words are used. These are combined with re-examing prior events and experiences to help clients understand and connect with suppressed emotions and facilitate self-acceptance. <ref name="Lauw2022">Lauw, E. L. (2022). Connecting with my inner child through vocal psychotherapy. ''British Journal of Music Therapy, 37''(1), 135945752211453. [https://doi.org/10.1177/13594575221145387 https://doi.org/10.1177/13594575221145387]</ref>