Quote:
Originally Posted by QuietMind
Hey Couchies,
I know not everyone is into "inner child" stuff (do I hear an "ack!" from stopdog?  ) and well, for me...in therapy, my T and I have been working hard on my "vulnerable child" mode (schema therapy). I found the entire article interesting - How to Stop Neglecting and Abusing Your Inner Child
What stuck me the most is how I would never intentionally mistreat a flesh-and-blood child like how I hit myself, starve myself, cut myself.
I honestly wouldn't make a warm, attuned or nurturing parental-figure -- I failed some time ago in preventing an aunt from spanking her 3yo grandson for crying (hitting a toddler to get them to stop crying = they're just going to cry harder!)...
I'm really going to try to be kinder to my "vulnerable child" part...I still hate her sometimes, and want to beat her up...but then sometimes I remember I wouldn't cut a misbehaving child as punishment, nor would I beat a difficult child in rage, so why am I doing it to me...? |
Just thought I'd share a little more, I have been learning gradually (through my work with t) to first stop hating, and then to love, my younger "vulnerable child" part. I consciously do things for her that I know she would enjoy like swimming, coloring flowers, etc. Yesterday I realized that I have been doing something for the past couple months subconsciously, I've mentioned before feeding the birds in my backyard, well I've been collecting the dropped feathers for the past couple months and have quite a collection and as I looked at them yesterday, I could feel my younger self's joy in that activity. This morning I was out in the backyard really early, put out the bird seed, and I felt her skipping along on the inside as I picked up a couple more feathers. That made me smile.
Because I was not allowed to pick up bird feathers when I was little.