Is your inner child angry?

Are there situations which make you angry or frightened with a childlike emotion which you don't understand?

We know the importance of creating an environment for a child where good emotional self care strategies are practiced. Without this, part of the emotional development of a child can be stuck at an early age.

If you recognise this in yourself, my tip is to try Inner Child work to connect with and re-parent these emotions.

If this idea is challenging to you, imagine how you would support a child in your life who was scared and crying - you would be kind, you would try to help them and you would provide reassurance - connecting to your inner child is no different, and know that frightened child is no less deserving of your attention.

Take a moment to think about what it would be like for you as an adult to meet you as a child. Try to connect with that child. One method you might try is to use a journal - write down what you might say to her.

I used this method to open a dialogue with little me. When I asked her why she was angry, she gave me the response 'I feel like no one can see me, I feel shaky about what happened today'. I was able to tell her 'You're not alone Sarah, I'm here and I can see you. I see you're frightened. I'll do my best to take care of you when you're frightened'. Through this Inner Child work, I came to understand that my anger as an adult was directly related to my parents consistently not doing anything to change a situation that made little me (and them) feel fearful. With this knowledge I was able to start re-parenting these emotions.

Inner Child work is a simple but powerful tool which helps you to gain important insight into how a lack of emotional care as a child affects you today. By talking to, and most importantly, listening to little you, you'll become a kind, loving and non-judgmental parent to yourself.