Some
basic questions and answers on inner child work
by paul
(aka starman_uk)
(©
aest.org.uk)
Is inner
child therapy a new thing ?
No
inner child therapy and inner child work are not new things. Penny
Parks was one of the first therapists to use this approach with
survivors and later released her book Rescuing the "Inner Child"
in 1994. ( see our book listings for other inner
child books
)
Does
inner child work help all survivors and is it a thing i need to do
to be able to recover?
Although
inner child therapy / work has been shown to be of great help for
many survivors, like any other therapies it does not help all
survivors. In most instances, it depends on how old the child was
during the abuse and to what extent disassociation, or splitting
off, were used by the child in order to survive those traumas,
both of which ways are very common coping strategies among
children.
Like
any other therapies etc, some people find they help immensely,
while others never feel the need to talk to a therapist at all.
Often the answers lay within a mixture of different therapies at different
times.
Another
way of looking at it is to compare therapies to diets. Some work
better for for some, some for others. Some need to try several
until they find what works for them and some people just do
not need them at all.
What
forms does inner child therapy take ?
There
are now several different types of inner child therapy and work.
Some, like Parks therapy, take (in its simplest form) that of the
child part writing about the bad things that happened, then the
adult part writing back to the child to say how sorry they are and
ending up in both writing a "rescue scene" together.
Other forms can use drawing and writing with the non dominant hand
in order for the inner child's feeling to be released easier. Some
of the other types of inner child work just involve becoming more
in touch with the inner child's feelings and moods thus helping
that part feel less alone and safer.
As
there is no totally one right or wrong with inner child work, we
shall try to have articles by more than one person to give a wider
viewpoint on the topic.
Does
having an inner child mean i am MPD / DID ?
One
of the reasons that MPD (Multiple Personality Disorder) was reclassified
as DID (disassociative identity disorder) was due to the developments
in, and understanding gained from, inner child therapy. It has
become clearer in recent years that disassociation in adults, traumatized
as children, covers a wide range of effects and symptoms. DID is
at one end of that scale, and no disassociation at all is at the
other. In-between these two end points are many other stages and
effects, plus of course, people can be at different points within
this range at different times. These different points can include
among others :-
-
Derealisation:
where you may feel as if you (and / or your surroundings) do not seem real,
or experience your surroundings through a diffused light, fog or mist.
-
Depersonalisation:
where you may feel as if you are "outside of your body"
or detached from your body, as though you are either standing alongside, above or behind it.
-
For
some it may just be a feeling of been younger when afraid,
after a nightmare etc.
Very
few people these days are clinically diagnosed with DID these days
compared to even a couple of years ago, and the understanding of
the disassociative coping range is changing constantly. As we have
said, DID is just the top end of the scale, and having an inner
child may
only be an indicator
that you are somewhere
on that scale. Much in the same was as having a skate board, car,
bus or an f15 fighter jet are all different stages on the scale of
having your own transport.
What
areas of my recovery might inner child work help with ?
Inner
child work has been shown during the last few years to be of benefit
in several areas in the treatment of people who have suffered
childhood trauma, including childhood sexual, physical and
emotional abuse. This is especially true of those that used
one form of disassociation or another in order to cope with the
trauma at the time. It can help with understanding the feelings of
guilt and shame; reducing nightmares or flashbacks; panic attacks,
plus often
helps with self harm issues and eating problems.
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