Have you ever noticed yourself overreacting to something relatively small? Or feeling anxious without a clear reason? Or suddenly experiencing a sense of powerlessness in situations where, logically, you know you are capable and competent? If so, you are not alone. These moments are often expressions of what psychologists commonly refer to as the inner child.

Becoming an adult, for most people, means learning to function, adapt, and survive and in the process, distancing themselves from parts of who they are that feel too sensitive, vulnerable, or unacceptable in a world that rewards performance and success. As a result, many of us leave childhood with something unresolved. Emotional needs may not have been consistently met, safety may have felt uncertain, or validation may have been missing. These early experiences do not disappear as we grow older. Instead, they remain active in the nervous system and continue to shape how we respond to stress, intimacy, and uncertainty in adult life.

The inner child is the part of us that lives in our subconscious. It carries emotional memories, beliefs about safety and belonging, and the original strategies we developed to protect ourselves (Bowlby, 1988; Siegel, 2012). When we don't have a relationship with this part, it shows up indirectly—through anxiety, self-doubt, emotional reactions that feel disproportionate, or a persistent sense that something essential is missing.

Working with the inner child is not a symbolic or abstract concept. It is a practical psychological framework that can help us regulate anxiety, build emotional

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