Inner child therapy is based on the premise that people struggle emotionally because they have unresolved issues from childhood. In this method of psychotherapy, the therapist guides the client through a deep exploration of the traumatic events of childhood and directs the client in reworking the associated troublesome emotions.

Historical Context

Inner child therapy became popular in the 1990s, when John Bradshaw released his best-selling self-help book Homecoming: Reclaiming and Championing Your Inner Child. Bradshaw constructs unresolved issues as psychological wounds and purports that inner child therapy will initiate a healing process.

Theoretical Underpinnings

Inner child therapy is theoretically eclectic. Jungian theory provided the foundation for much of Bradshaw’s work. Reclamation and nurturance of the inner child, in Jungian tradition, releases creativity and promotes healing by releasing the ...

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