Breaking News--There is No Child Within
I hate to break it to you, but
there is no “child within you" or “inner child.” The term has been around for decades,
and I hear it often when talking with clients. If you’re willing to give up
this concept, you can replace it with one that is more constructive and
healing.
If you’re an adult, you can’t be a
child. You have the brain and other body components of an adult. Sure, you may
act like a child, think immaturely, feel childish, or be totally in touch with
and affected by your positive or negative memories from childhood—but you can’t
do this as anything but the adult you are. There is no “part” of you that is a
child, as in, “The child in me wants to strike back when someone hurts my
feelings” or “There’s a wounded child in me.” Where is that child? Exactly which
part of you contains this alleged “child”? You’re an adult from head to toe,
always and completely.
These child-referential terms have
been useful in understanding your life, and I’m not denying that what happened
to us in childhood can haunt us right into and straight through adulthood. I am
stating, however, that our choices come from being an adult. History and
childhood are with us only via memory. If you view life from the perspective
that you’re an adult with a 100% fully functioning brain which you lacked (by
virtue of it developing gradually in youth), then you’re on the right track.
You have adult capacities and capabilities unless ...
Source: Normal Eating - Category: Eating Disorders Authors: eatnormalnow Source Type: blogs
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