lily

I'm so sorry you have to deal with an emotionally abusive father.

I've been in therapy for 7 months now. When I first started and found PC, I was also very drawn to the inner child threads. T and I talked some about how to access my inner child - T told me to be unreasonable, which to me sounded like throwing a temper tantrum - something I never did as a child... but maybe I needed to do it, so those feelings are all still there!

I started with what came to mind first, and that was to get a new stuffed animal, because I had a lot of them as a child, and to color, because I used to love to color, it brought me joy.

Last week in session, I read T the first letters my little one has written to T. After each session, I journal - I wrote down after that session that I felt liberated, exactly! I have a long way to go, and the feelings can be overwhelming for me sometimes, but it is feeling good to know that I can heal the child within.

I think 17 is a great age to get in touch with that inner child - you're closer in memory to that child self, which is great. And you're not quite yet an adult, so you can slip back into 'little girl mode' sometimes. I'm in my early 30s, and I feel like it's unacceptable for me to expect anyone to take care of me at this age. But at your age of 17, you're still a child in many ways - allow T and others who care about you to take care of you. For me, the turning point to my inner child really coming out strong was the first time T hugged me - I just let it all in, all that caring from T, and it was such a wonderful feeling. My little ones felt it, they really did. And I'm realizing that even at my age, I still need someone to take care of me sometimes.