Inner child

I agree with the semantics issue. What you (nanrob) describe as the ego is actually the id.

I don't happen to believe in an "inner child" as a straightforward, reified entity. And it also doesn't make sense to take what are forces like id, ego, and superego and try to make them into little people inside us. As some have pointed out the ego is the negotiator between the impulse toward satisfaction of primal desires (id) and internalized societal "nos" (superego). The ego is a reality check and sometimes equated with the self, but obviously in this theory (which not all believe in, even psychoanalysts) there are other parts.

There are more contemporary theories who describe "self states" and especially with traumatic events, a part of the self is left with the trauma at the age of the trauma. These self states can appear when the traumatic material comes up and be "younger" than the current real age. I see it as a flow of different states rather than a little person inside.

Agreed with the others up there. The ID holds the desires, run from pain only wants pleasure, the super ego is the parent like voice, the conscience. The ego is the mediator between the two.

As a vocational counselor I'm surprised you don't know that.

What I meant was that we shouldn't be indulging the "inner child" during therapy. By seeking therapy we are attempting to correct these patterns that aren't working for us, not enable them.

I h ave been reading this thread and I noticed there is beginning to be disagreements on what the terms id, ego and superego are and which one is the inner child....

the line in the sand is that each location culture and treatment provider have their own definitions and which and sometimes all are called the inner child....

example

my own treatment provider uses the technical definition....

id is the part of self that is a persons instinctual impulsive/thoughts/reactions
Ego is the part of self that is a persons part of self that is organized, realistic (logical) self that shows thoughts/actions/reactions that a person knows right from wrong and can think and react on a logical level
super ego is the part of self that is a persons morally /critical / internal critic.

which one is the inner child....according to my own treatment providers they all are...

example

Ego....when I was a child there were times when I had to be a responsible child who knew right from wrong with caring for my younger siblings.

sometimes I react like I did as a child taking care of my siblings....this part of me that is thinking/acting like I did as a child in the responsible child mode kicks in at the wrong time. at work a co worker will tell me they are going out to get drunk ...and instantly I start mother henning them...you cant do that you have work tomorrow it wouldnt be right.....the co worker laughed at me and said would you and that inner child stop trying to be the responsible older sister having to take care of the children, have some fun, let the ego rest and let out your id inner child.

ID... I remember as a child being impulsive, and doing things because they were instinctual not because I thought about whether it was right or wrong..after a rainstorm there would be puddles on the ground. with out thinking about it, I would start stomping in them on the way to school, see a friend with my favorite toy and automatically reach out, grab it away saying hey thats mine, see something at the store and i wanted it right then right now.

As an adult sometimes I will react that way at work, a co worker walking by my desk will reach out and grab the stapler and my first instinct is act that that child taking away a toy and say, hey thats mine. Sometimes I will go shopping for one thing and come out with other things I just had to have with out thinking whether I really needed to have that.

during therapy one day I actually told my therapist, hey give me that ( a pen) she looked at me and said ah ha the Id inner child in you. i smiled and said sorry I should have asked for the pen not impulsively demanded it. lol

Super ego...oh man does my supper ego inner child likes to rear its head some days. My siblings tell me that as a child I was very self critical, didnt like this or that.

some days I will put on one outfit, go out to the kitchen, start making breakfast and look down at my shirt and think oh gosh this shirt is not right for work and go change, then when Im ready to walk out the door, my thoughts will critizie something else about myself. I know some times I act like that child who just had to have everything perfect, toys in the right place, books in the right place....

one day in therapy I actually acted like a child walking out of therapy because my critical thoughts were going and everything I said and did was not right to me.

when I explained during the next session what had happened my therapist stated yes that super ego of an inner child can be a handful cant she.

mind you this is only how my own treatment providers explains the inner child combined with the Id, Ego, super ego concept. others may have other ways that these terms are defined and explained.

LOL. I was beginning to think all my "preaching" was falling on deaf ears. Do a search on ego, super ego, Id and take the results back to your therapist. S(he) is incorrect in saying your super ego is your inner child. You are correct that your inner child is your child like behaviors of your ego taking over your adult Id. Congratulations for recognizing and acknowledging your ego (inner child).

Nevermind

my point of my post was that no one member is wrong....each location, culture, religion, treatment provider.... what ever has their own ways of defining mental health terms and how they apply to a person..

here at psych central we have a very diverse membership from all walks of life, all walks of religions, races, treatment providers who have different ways of explaining things, different treatment techniques... and what have you.

it isnt up to anyone to say one persons way is wrong, we accept everyone for what ever and how ever they believe and term things. everyone posts according to what they have gone through and what ever, how ever their own treatment providers do things with them.

I dont need to do a google search and then take it back to my treatment provider because for how and what she believes in and how she is treating me and how she explains things to me is not wrong. Here in america everyone treatment providers included have the freedom to think, believe, say, do for their selves.

thanks for the suggestion though. some people may decide to tell their treatment providers they are wrong but I believe my treatment provider has the same rights as other Americans in that she can hold to her own beliefs and take care of herself and knows how to best treat me and my problem areas. to me it doesnt matter whether her way of explaining things is different than others, and it doesnt matter to me that her way of believing and explaining things to be does not match up with other people. She is an American therefore she has the freedom to think, believe and say what she wishes, just like anyone else who lives in, or is a citizen in America.

OMG I need a therapy session just to process all I have read, I'm actually afraid of the so called inner child.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free