HOPE+WELLNESS BLOG
little snippets and advice for
everyday challenges many people share
Getting To Know Your Inner Child
Getting to know your inner child is a journey of self-discovery and healing. It’s about honoring the child within you, understanding their needs, and providing the care they’ve longed for. While the process can be challenging, the rewards—greater self-awareness, emotional freedom, and a more fulfilling life—are well worth the effort. Here’s how you can start.
Do you interact with your inner child?
We all have an inner child within us. These younger versions of ourselves can be powerful tools in understanding and healing emotional wounds from the past, which can help you feel safer and more confident in the present.
Learning how to listen to your inner child isn’t a skill we often learn growing up, and it might seem a little strange at first. But the more you learn to tune into what this younger self wants, the easier it will be to recognize the times when your inner child needs support. For example, in moments when you find yourself reacting strongly to something minor, or feeling inexplicable sadness, your inner child might be trying to communicate with you.
What Is Your Inner Child?
Your inner child is the part of you that holds the experiences, emotions, and memories from your childhood. This mental version of yourself represents the little person you used to be—full of wonder, joy, hopes, secrets, fears, and insecurities. Your inner child carries with them both the joyful memories of childhood play and exploration, as well any pain and trauma of unmet needs, rejection, neglect, or abuse.
As we get older, our inner child stays with us, and this younger version of ourselves can influence the way we respond to things in adulthood. Connecting with your inner child is about recognizing and honoring this younger you, as well as understanding what they need, and helping them to heal old wounds.
Why does childhood stuff matter when we’re adults?
Childhood is a hugely significant time, where we develop, among other things, our sense of self, our beliefs about the world, and how we relate to others. We have needs as children, and it can be a matter of life or death when we don’t get our needs met as kids. In addition to our physical needs as small humans, we have emotional and relational needs when we’re young, like knowing that we’re loved and valued, that we’re safe, and that we’re good enough.
When our childhood needs aren’t met—whether due to neglect, abuse, trauma, or even just well-intentioned but misguided parenting—we can carry these wounds into adulthood and they impact how we respond to things.
These unresolved wounds from childhood often show up in what we believe about ourselves: that we’re not good enough, that love is conditional, or that the world is a dangerous place. These beliefs can play a role in many areas of our lives, from our careers to our romantic relationships, often in ways we’re not even consciously aware of.
Signs that inner child work can help you
We all have an inner child, so most people can benefit from inner child work or inner child therapy at some point. That being said, these are some signs that inner child work might be a good idea for you:
You find yourself stuck in repetitive emotional cycles—like feeling abandoned, unloved, or overly defensive—and don’t like the patterns you’re seeing
You struggle with feelings of inadequacy, fear of failure, or constant self-criticism
You have trouble forming or maintaining healthy relationships with others
You struggle with deep-seated anxiety or fears that feel overwhelming or difficult to understand
All of these can be signs that your inner child needs your attention.
Benefits of inner child work
If you’re not in the habit of listening to your inner child, you might be wondering what the benefits are of beginning this type of work. After all, digging into old wounds and traumas can be dysregulating. If you’re going to go through the emotional rollercoaster of bonding with your inner child, you want to know that it can actually help you.
Inner child work can help you:
Heal old wounds and move forward from trauma by reparenting yourself with compassion
Build resilience and navigate your life with more ease and confidence
Learn to trust yourself, especially with the parts of you that have been hurt or neglected
Increase self-awareness and learn how to meet your own needs kindly
Develop healthier and more fulfilling relationships that aren’t driven by past wounds
When inner child work is triggering
Inner child work can bring up painful memories and emotions, which can feel overwhelming at times. If you find yourself triggered, make sure to pause and breathe deeply to ground yourself in the present moment.
Be compassionate with yourself when you're emotionally activated. It’s normal to feel a range of emotions when you’re unpacking serious topics like childhood wounds. Working with a therapist who is trained in modalities like Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy and who has experience guiding inner child work can help you move through this process safely.
How to get to know your inner child
Getting to know your inner child is a journey of self-discovery and healing. It’s about honoring the child within you, understanding their needs, and providing the care they’ve longed for. While the process can be challenging, the rewards—greater self-awareness, emotional freedom, and a more fulfilling life—are well worth the effort. Here’s how you can start:
Practice self-reflection
The first step to getting to know your inner child is to start to notice it, and the best way to do that is to spend time reflecting. Take time to sit quietly and reflect on your childhood. What memories come up? What do you remember struggling with back then? What emotions are present? What physical sensations do you experience? What do you wish you could tell your younger self? What did you need as a child that you didn’t receive?
Questions like these can give you insight into the needs and wounds of your inner child so you can start to anticipate when they’ll need extra support. If you know that your inner child has a deep fear of abandonment, you can start to anticipate emotional reactions from your inner child when this abandonment wound is activated.
Keep an inner child journal
Writing down your thoughts and emotions can help you connect with your inner child’s needs.
You can use your journal as a place to validate and prioritize this younger version of yourself. You can journal like you’re writing as your younger self, or like you’re writing to your younger self, whichever feels better for you. It may even be helpful to record your observations from your self reflection in this journal so you can refer back to it.
Try to use writing implements you liked when you were a kid when you use your journal. Maybe you’ll write in sparkly gel pen, or crayon, or even draw pictures to help illustrate things.
Make time for play
Play is how we learn when we’re young, and it’s essential for our developmental well-being. You can utilize play as a way to get closer to your younger self and meet their needs. Your inner child thrives in moments of play and creativity.
If you’re wondering where to start with play, think about the things that you enjoyed as a child. Maybe you liked drawing, or dancing, or playing with toys. Maybe you were into playing sports. Maybe you always had your nose in a book. Whatever it is that used to bring you joy, start there to reconnect with your inner child’s joy and needs.
Keep the lines of communication open
Make it a habit to talk to your inner child regularly. Imagine speaking directly to your little self. What do they want to say? What do they need from you now? This dialogue can be incredibly healing.
When your younger self is no longer screaming for your attention, does anything shift for you? Keeping the lines of communication open with the younger versions of yourself can help you establish trust in yourself - that you won’t abandon yourself, even when it gets messy.
If you’re interested in inner child work and need support, our therapists can help. Get in touch with us today to schedule an appointment!
What You Should Know About EMDR
Are you interested in EMDR? Our clinicians at Hope+Wellness offer EMDR therapy in our office and online.
Have you ever heard of EMDR?
EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. It’s a kind of psychotherapy that was developed in the 1980s by Francine Shapiro. Dr. Shapiro was walking outdoors in 1987
when she noticed that the distress she was feeling, related to upsetting memories, was lowered when she moved her eyes back and forth. She did further studies on this phenomenon, and eventually developed EMDR as the treatment it is today, as well as the Adaptive Information Processing model to explain how the treatment works.
While EMDR is a newer treatment, it’s been shown to be incredibly effective in both research and in clinical settings. Many people experience a dramatic decrease in their distress level after EMDR therapy, and studies show it’s effective for many many mental health issues, including trauma, depression, anxiety, and OCD.
How does it work?
The basic premise of EMDR is that our minds can heal wounds in the same way that our bodies can, but sometimes those wounds don’t heal correctly and cause pain long after the event in question. It’s almost like the painful memories and emotions get stuck. When this happens, we experience negative outcomes like trauma, anxiety, and other kinds of emotional and mental distress. Resolving these issues requires us to access and process these stuck memories and emotions, which happens through EMDR.
EMDR offers a way to locate, access, and reprocess these stuck memories and emotions. The goal is to change the way the brain is storing these stuck memories so that they stop causing pain. EMDR treatment requires a clinician who is trained in EMDR, because the process of accessing and reprocessing traumatic memories is very sensitive. EMDR therapists have extensive training in the background of why EMDR works, and how to adapt it for different situations based on what the client needs.
What happens during an EMDR session?
EMDR helps you to locate and reprocess traumatic memories, so it’s not something you can just jump into without preparation. EMDR has 8 phases, and each phase is essential, especially the phases where you work with your therapist to develop resources to help you during upsetting moments.
The 8 phases of EMDR are:
History & Treatment Planning
Preparation
Assessment
The first 3 phases are completed before reprocessing can begin. These phases are focused on understanding how EMDR can help the client based on their history, developing a treatment plan, building a rapport between the client and therapist, providing resources for the client to use in moments of distress, and deciding what event or memory to reprocess.
Desensitization
Installation
Body Scan
The next 3 phases are the reprocessing phases, where the client works with the therapist to access and reprocess the memory until they no longer feel distress around it. These phases include the bilateral stimulation that EMDR is famous for. Some clinicians will have you use eye movements, tapping, headphones, lights, buzzers, or tappers to direct the bilateral stimulation that allows you to access the memory networks that need reprocessing.
Closure
Reevaluation
The final 2 phases help to build safety for the client as each session ends and begins. Each session will end with helping the client return to a calm state of mind, and each session will begin by checking back in to make sure that their distress level stays low around the reprocessed memory.
Some of the phases go faster than others, and once you are ready to begin reprocessing, most of your EMDR sessions will be some combination of phases 3-8.
What can EMDR help with?
EMDR was initially developed to help process trauma, and lessen the effects of PTSD, and it is an incredibly powerful way to treat trauma, including trauma from childhood or abuse. However, research has shown that EMDR can be helpful with a number of other mental health concerns, including:
Anxiety
Depression
Chronic Pain
Dissociative Disorders
Personality Disorders
Addiction
Eating Disorders
Grief
Self Esteem
OCD
EMDR is a treatment that can be used for children, teens, and adults. There are some situations where EMDR is not an appropriate treatment, so it’s important to check with an EMDR therapist to determine if it’s a good treatment choice for you.
What are the benefits and drawbacks of EMDR?
One of the biggest benefits of EMDR is how effective it is as a treatment. Although it’s a newer treatment modality, there have been many studies conducted on EMDR that show it works. The data showed that EMDR was working for people before we even understood why it worked! Many organizations, including the World Health Organization, the American Psychological Association, and the US Department of Veterans Affairs recognize EMDR as an effective treatment for PTSD and other disorders.
Another major benefit of EMDR is that it doesn’t require a person to talk in detail about the distressing memories they have to reprocess them. EMDR does require you to focus on the memories, but you don’t have to put them into words. While focusing on the memories is definitely upsetting, it’s less intense than having to narrate or fully relive a traumatic memory. EMDR is also fully confined to the therapy session - you won’t have homework to do or be expected to process things on your own, everything will take place with your therapist, which can be appealing.
Are you interested in EMDR? Our clinicians at Hope+Wellness offer EMDR therapy in our office and online. We serve the McLean, Great Falls, Falls Church, Arlington, Alexandria, and the greater Washington DC regions, as well as offering online services in DC, MD, VA, and all PSYPACT states. If you would like to talk to one of our therapists, please contact info@hope-wellness.com.
Listening to Your Intuition After Trauma
Trusting your intuition after something traumatic has happened to you can be extremely difficult. Being hypervigilant will not disappear overnight, but you can begin to pay attention to your body's cues, to learn them and start to distinguish between fear and hypervigilance and your intuition or “gut feelings” again.
Trusting your intuition after something traumatic has happened to you can be extremely difficult.
Oftentimes after trauma, we don’t trust ourselves at all. We feel a false sense of responsibility for what happened to us–like if only we had been on the lookout for warning signs, we could have prevented it. This sort of thinking can make us what is known as hypervigilant.
Okay, what is hypervigilance? And how does it impact our intuition?
Hypervigilance is a state of extreme alertness, and often a symptom of PTSD. When you are hypervigilant it means you are constantly evaluating your environment for potential threats–and frequently responding to threats you perceive that may not really be there. In this state of extreme alertness, normal things that are not actual threats to your safety (physical, emotional, mental) are interpreted as threats, even if all they are is minor discomforts.
This of course has a huge impact on your day to day experience. Experiencing this sort of endless hypervigilance can:
heighten your anxiety
make you feel physically more tense/sore/achy
affect your sleeping habits
affect your appetite
So it is hard to live in a state of hypervigilance. It is basically like living, constantly in fight, flight or freeze mode. Recognizing that is an important beginning step as you heal: What you are doing takes so much strength, and even if others can’t see it, you deserve to have that acknowledged. Be kind to yourself through this process of healing, even if it doesn’t go as quickly as you would like it to. Anything you’re feeling is okay; whether you’re disheartened or frustrated or angry or sad. There is no wrong way to feel, but remember this is only temporary.
So, the first step to healing your relationship to your intuition after trauma is to promise to be gentle with yourself.
It will likely be a slow process, that will happen gradually as you work through what happened to you and do other healing work in therapy. Being hypervigilant will not disappear overnight, but you can begin to pay attention to your body's cues, to learn them and start to distinguish between fear and hypervigilance and your intuition or “gut feelings” again.
Getting in tune with your intuition again:
Don’t rush it!
After experiencing trauma there’s often an internal sense of “I should just get over it” or “it wasn’t that bad” or “I’m overreacting” or “I should be over it by now.” But none of these thoughts are true or helpful! There is no timeline on healing, so there is no wrong amount of time for you to “get over” something. And it is always better to heal slowly than to sweep over something and leave the wound ignored or dealt with insufficiently.
Change your goal.
The goal isn’t going to be figuring out what is fear and what is intuition at first. While eventually you want to be able to know when you’re being triggered so you can self soothe or get some support in the moment rather than react to every perceived threat (when there may not be one), to start that’s not realistic! It’s too many steps at once.
Instead start by not focusing on whether your feelings are rational or not or whether the danger you're feeling is "real" or "valid"–but noticing when those feelings pop up at all. It’s actually okay to protect yourself more than “necessary”–this is something many people struggle with. It is not your responsibility to live as though you haven’t experienced a trauma when you have. It’s just your job to notice your feelings thoughtfully and explore what they mean for you–and to keep yourself safe as you do so.
The feelings you’re experiencing do have a real impact on you, so responding to that fear is perfectly normal. These extreme responses will come up more often than before but they will slow and settle as you heal. The point isn't to shut those reactions off but to learn to tune in and notice what you're feeling when you feel it
Notice what you’re feeling!
When instances like this(feeling triggered, responding to a perceived threat, etc.) come up, don’t try to shove your feelings away because they’re “irrational.” Instead, ask yourself:
What am I feeling?
Where did this feeling come from?
Was there something in my surroundings that triggered it?
Where in my body do I feel this feeling?
Get familiar with your responses.
Eventually you will be able to distinguish between your intuition or “gut” telling you something, and your past trauma being triggered and putting you on high alert. Getting in tune with your emotional responses, and taking time to notice will help to facilitate this.
Many people, even those who haven’t experienced something traumatic, struggle to tell the difference between their fear and their intuition. It takes time and practice to be able to recognize which one is speaking to you. A general rule of thumb is that if it is your intuition, it will provide a feeling of calm groundedness, whereas fear and hypervigilance feel emotionally charged, urgant, and focused on uncontrollable what if’s.
If you’re looking for more support as you heal your relationship to your intuition after experiencing a trauma, one of our therapists can help support you. Contact us today!
What are Coping Skills and Why Do I Have Them?
Coping skills offer options for getting through moments of distress until you can find a safe place to process what’s going on. It’s not always feasible to feel and process everything you need to in the moment, especially when emotions are heightened. Coping strategies let you get through the moment until you’re able to find a safe place, like a therapy session, to unpack the situation.
What are Coping Skills and Why Do I Have Them?
Have you ever heard the term “coping skills” and wondered what that means? Coping skills are pretty popular these days as a buzzword on social media and health websites. There are lots of great tips out there on how to use coping skills, but it’s harder to find information out there about what coping skills are and why we develop them in the first place.
Coping skills are strategies or tools that you can use to manage stressful or distressing situations. Coping skills let you decrease your level of stress and handle difficult emotions in a way that maintains your sense of internal order.
Most of us have coping skills in one way or another - getting through life is hard, and we all need ways to support our journey.
Coping skills or strategies are a way to manage stress both in the moment and long-term. Stress can cause all kinds of negative problems, like irritability, heart problems, and sleep disturbances.
Coping skills offer options for getting through moments of distress until you can find a safe place to process what’s going on. It’s not always feasible to feel and process everything you need to in the moment, especially when emotions are heightened. Coping strategies let you get through the moment until you’re able to find a safe place, like a therapy session, to unpack the situation.
Coping skills come in two basic forms, problem-based and emotion-based. Some people also conceptualize coping skills as being short term, to get you through the moment, or long-term, to help maintain balance in your life.
As the name suggests, problem-based coping skills come up when there’s a problem or situation that you need to deal with. Problem-based coping skills can also be useful for long-term coping. For example, if you find yourself chronically tired, a problem-based coping skill would be to develop a nighttime routine that works for you. It may take time to implement, but establishing the habit of getting a good night’s sleep can help prevent future stresses from overwhelming you. Emotion-based coping skills allow you to take care of your feelings when things are out of your control or when you’re overwhelmed in the moment.
Someone who grows up in an emotionally abusive home would probably rely more on emotion-based coping strategies. Since the person being abused has no control over the abuse, emotion based coping skills can help them deal with the abuse until they can escape it. However, problem-based coping skills may be helpful to them when they are at an age where they can leave the abusive home.
Here are some common coping strategies that people use to deal with tough situations:
Negative self talk
Catastrophizing or other cognitive distortions
Worrying
Escaping through books, media, and imagination
Self-soothing with alcohol, drugs, food, sex, etc.
Compulsive behaviors like shopping or gambling
Numbing out with alcohol or drugs
Getting too much or too little sleep
Self-harm
Reckless behaviors, like driving too fast
While all of these coping skills can provide relief in the moment, these are not all supportive habits in the long term. Sometimes, the coping skills we use to protect ourselves get out of control. This can happen when folks rely on things like substances to cope, for example.
Lots of times, people refer to certain coping skills as ‘healthy’ or “unhealthy”, although more helpful terms might be supportive or unsupportive.
Many of us developed coping strategies to get through hard times, like trauma or mental illness. Those coping skills allowed you to survive. It’s okay if you had to use coping skills that aren’t supportive long-term. Whatever coping skills you’ve had to use in the past, they’ve allowed you to keep going to where you are today. There’s nothing to be ashamed of!
Although the coping strategies you’ve used up until now might not be ideal for you currently, you are don’t have to view them as unhealthy. You can instead decide that you’re looking for coping strategies that are supportive of where you are right now, instead of relying on ones that have gotten you to this point so far. You can even go so far as to thank your old coping skills for helping you stay alive until now. If you’re looking to find some new coping skills that are more supportive of where you are now, you have options.
It can be helpful to have a list of coping skills ready to go for a time when you’re feeling distressed or overwhelmed. When you’re in the moment, it can be hard to think clearly, especially when you’re upset. Having a list handy helps take away the need to come up with ways to support yourself, so you can just jump right in to using your coping strategies.
Here are some coping strategies that you may find more supportive long-term:
Progressive muscle relaxation
Breathwork
Meditation or mindfulness practice
Taking a bath
Spending time outside
Cooking or baking
Being creative
Gardening
Gentle physical movement
Playing with a pet
Listening to music
Drinking a warm beverage
Reading
Setting boundaries
Going to therapy
If you’re looking for more support as you explore your coping skills and establish new ones, a therapist can help suggest skills that fit your needs. Unpacking your history of coping skills with a therapist can be a helpful way to identify what’s working and what isn’t!
Hope+Wellness is a mental health practice specializing in the treatment of depression, mood, stress, and anxiety in kids, teens, and adults. This is a blog about living well and finding meaning and purpose in the face of difficult challenges. This is a blog about finding hope.
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August 2024
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- Oct 11, 2022 8 Blogs to Help You Manage Your Emotions Oct 11, 2022
- Oct 3, 2022 4 Practical Ways to Build New Habits Oct 3, 2022
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September 2022
- Sep 27, 2022 Spending Time with Your Inner Child this Autumn Sep 27, 2022
- Sep 20, 2022 3 Ways to Build Interoceptive Awareness Sep 20, 2022
- Sep 14, 2022 Getting Started with Hiking for Mental Health Sep 14, 2022
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August 2022
- Aug 31, 2022 How to Tell the Difference Between Avoidance and Self-Care Aug 31, 2022
- Aug 22, 2022 5 Mental Health Benefits of Spending Time in Nature Aug 22, 2022
- Aug 16, 2022 How Well Can You Predict What Will Make You Happy? Aug 16, 2022
- Aug 8, 2022 What is a Trauma Response? Aug 8, 2022
- Aug 1, 2022 4 Ways to Practice Accountability in Your Relationships Aug 1, 2022
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July 2022
- Jul 25, 2022 What is Emotional Regulation? Jul 25, 2022
- Jul 18, 2022 5 Ideas for Soothing Your Nervous System in Tough Times Jul 18, 2022
- Jul 13, 2022 3 Tips to Manage Regret More Mindfully Jul 13, 2022
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June 2022
- Jun 30, 2022 5 Ways to Improve Your Self-Worth Jun 30, 2022
- Jun 29, 2022 Codependence vs Interdependence in Relationships Jun 29, 2022
- Jun 21, 2022 What Internalized Messages Do Your Still Believe About Yourself? Jun 21, 2022
- Jun 16, 2022 Can I Have a Healthy Relationship with My Body Without Loving It? Jun 16, 2022
- Jun 6, 2022 4 Ways To Widen Your Window Of Tolerance Jun 6, 2022
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May 2022
- May 25, 2022 Quieting Your Inner Critic by Living your Values May 25, 2022
- May 17, 2022 Understanding Your Window of Tolerance May 17, 2022
- May 12, 2022 How to Make the Most of Your Time Between Sessions May 12, 2022
- May 2, 2022 5 Ideas for Starting a Self-Development Practice May 2, 2022
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April 2022
- Apr 25, 2022 7 Ways to Spend Your Time for Better Mental Health Apr 25, 2022
- Apr 18, 2022 6 Things to Do When You Make a Mistake Apr 18, 2022
- Apr 12, 2022 Emotional Exhaustion: What Is It & What Can You Do About It? Apr 12, 2022
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March 2022
- Mar 28, 2022 5 Ways to Deal With Being Ghosted Mar 28, 2022
- Mar 23, 2022 Gentle Movement Tips for A Healthier Relationship with Exercise Mar 23, 2022
- Mar 15, 2022 5 Things to Do When You Feel Triggered Mar 15, 2022
- Mar 7, 2022 How to Be There for A Friend with Chronic Pain Mar 7, 2022
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February 2022
- Feb 28, 2022 8 Tips for Hard Conversations in Your Relationship Feb 28, 2022
- Feb 21, 2022 How (& Why) You Should Get Clear on Your Values Feb 21, 2022
- Feb 15, 2022 6 Tips To Help You Feel Your Feelings Feb 15, 2022
- Feb 8, 2022 6 Ways Cooking Together Builds Intimacy Feb 8, 2022
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January 2022
- Jan 31, 2022 3 Ways to Celebrate Platonic Relationships This February Jan 31, 2022
- Jan 25, 2022 6 Tips for Having Difficult Conversations with Your Partner Jan 25, 2022
- Jan 19, 2022 5 Tips to Start Journaling for the First Time Jan 19, 2022
- Jan 11, 2022 Reaffirming Your Covid Boundaries Jan 11, 2022
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December 2021
- Dec 23, 2021 8 Ways to Upgrade Your Self-Care Routine in 2022 Dec 23, 2021
- Dec 20, 2021 Making Big Life Decisions In Scary Times Dec 20, 2021
- Dec 13, 2021 6 Little Ways to Improve Your Romantic Relationship Dec 13, 2021
- Dec 6, 2021 Keeping Peace with Your Body During the Holiday Season Dec 6, 2021
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November 2021
- Nov 29, 2021 How to Gently Set Boundaries With Your Family Nov 29, 2021
- Nov 22, 2021 How to Motivate Yourself to Do Boring Life Tasks Nov 22, 2021
- Nov 15, 2021 How to Tell if You’re in a Codependent Relationship Nov 15, 2021
- Nov 1, 2021 Listening to Your Intuition After Trauma Nov 1, 2021
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October 2021
- Oct 25, 2021 What Forgiveness Is and Isn’t Oct 25, 2021
- Oct 19, 2021 Who Can Benefit from Inner Child Work? Oct 19, 2021
- Oct 15, 2021 What are Coping Skills and Why Do I Have Them? Oct 15, 2021
- Oct 11, 2021 How to Move Through Grief with Kindness and Self-Compassion Oct 11, 2021
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September 2021
- Sep 27, 2021 Finding Meaning When Life Is Scary or Confusing Sep 27, 2021
- Sep 17, 2021 Self Care for Days You Can't Get Out of Bed Sep 17, 2021
- Sep 10, 2021 How Affirmations Can Help You Be Kinder To Yourself Sep 10, 2021
- Sep 3, 2021 Helpful Tools for Managing Adult ADHD Sep 3, 2021
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August 2021
- Aug 30, 2021 7 Ways to Get To Know Yourself Better Aug 30, 2021
- Aug 23, 2021 3 Tips for More Effective Communication with Your Teen Aug 23, 2021
- Aug 16, 2021 5 Ways to Cultivate Creativity Aug 16, 2021
- Aug 9, 2021 3 Coping Skills for Managing Depression Aug 9, 2021
- Aug 3, 2021 5 Tips for Overcoming Perfectionism Aug 3, 2021
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July 2021
- Jul 27, 2021 How to Tell Someone They've Hurt Your Feelings Jul 27, 2021
- Jul 19, 2021 How ADHD Presents In Adult Women Jul 19, 2021
- Jul 13, 2021 5 Coping Strategies to Try When You’re Feeling Anxious Jul 13, 2021
- Jul 6, 2021 4 Tips for Dealing With a Friend Breakup Jul 6, 2021
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June 2021
- Jun 28, 2021 Naming Your Emotions Jun 28, 2021
- Jun 14, 2021 How to Stop Comparing Yourself to Others Jun 14, 2021
- Jun 7, 2021 How to Unlink Your Self-Worth From Your Job Status Jun 7, 2021
- Jun 1, 2021 4 Myths About Grief Jun 1, 2021
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May 2021
- May 24, 2021 5 Reasons You Might Consider Ending a Friendship May 24, 2021
- May 18, 2021 Setting Boundaries: Why You Should & What to Say May 18, 2021
- May 10, 2021 6 Ways to Cultivate Self-Compassion May 10, 2021
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April 2021
- Apr 30, 2021 Exploring Perfectionism and Being Ok With ‘Good Enough’ Apr 30, 2021
- Apr 26, 2021 3 Things Your Inner Child Needs to Hear from You Apr 26, 2021
- Apr 12, 2021 What to Teach Your Child About Worry Apr 12, 2021
- Apr 6, 2021 6 Tips to Help Improve Your Sleep Apr 6, 2021
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March 2021
- Mar 26, 2021 7 Lesser Known Signs of ADHD Mar 26, 2021
- Mar 18, 2021 Managing Cognitive Distortions Mar 18, 2021
- Mar 15, 2021 10 More Cognitive Distortions to Be Aware Of Mar 15, 2021
- Mar 4, 2021 What is All or Nothing Thinking? Mar 4, 2021
- Mar 1, 2021 8 Common Cognitive Distortions to Watch Out For Mar 1, 2021
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February 2021
- Feb 15, 2021 4 Signs That Your Funk Could Be the Result of Depression Feb 15, 2021
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January 2021
- Jan 28, 2021 6 Things Not to Say to Someone Struggling with Infertility Jan 28, 2021
- Jan 7, 2021 Managing Covid Anxiety in the New Year Jan 7, 2021
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August 2020
- Aug 21, 2020 7 Ways to Remember Your Lost Loved One Aug 21, 2020
- Aug 17, 2020 6 Ways People Have Described What Depression Feels Like Aug 17, 2020
- Aug 10, 2020 4 Ways to Support Someone Struggling With Infertility Aug 10, 2020
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July 2020
- Jul 31, 2020 Mindfulness To Help Anxiety Jul 31, 2020
- Jul 30, 2020 Learning to Reparent Your Inner Child Jul 30, 2020
- Jul 17, 2020 Daily Habits to Help Manage Anxiety in a Healthy Way Jul 17, 2020
- Jul 1, 2020 Racial Justice Resources Jul 1, 2020
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June 2020
- Jun 19, 2020 Processing Non-Death Related Grief Jun 19, 2020
- Jun 5, 2020 How Creativity Helps Mental Health Jun 5, 2020
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May 2020
- May 29, 2020 20 Journal Prompts for Grief + Loss May 29, 2020
- May 22, 2020 4 Ways to Add Mindfulness to Your Daily Routine May 22, 2020
- May 15, 2020 How Grounding Techniques Can Help With Anxiety May 15, 2020
- May 3, 2020 6 Journaling Prompts to Help You Examine Your Relationships May 3, 2020
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April 2020
- Apr 18, 2020 5 Ways to Show Some Self-Compassion Apr 18, 2020
- Apr 5, 2020 Why Conflict In Your Relationship Can Be A Good Thing Apr 5, 2020
- Apr 5, 2020 4 Tips to Help You Cultivate Optimism Apr 5, 2020
- Apr 1, 2020 How to Craft a Joyful Daily Routine Apr 1, 2020
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March 2020
- Mar 6, 2020 Feeling Stuck? Try These 6 Things Mar 6, 2020
- Mar 5, 2020 How to Figure Out What You Want in a Partner Mar 5, 2020
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February 2020
- Feb 23, 2020 How to Cope With Losing Relationships as a Result of Your Chronic Illness Feb 23, 2020
- Feb 7, 2020 Well Rounded Wellness: Exploring the Health Benefits of Spirituality Feb 7, 2020
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January 2020
- Jan 28, 2020 Ways to Cope with Depression After Pregnancy Loss Jan 28, 2020
- Jan 16, 2020 Is Perfectionism Holding You Back? Jan 16, 2020
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December 2019
- Dec 28, 2019 5 Ways Chronic Illness can Affect Your Mental Health Dec 28, 2019
- Dec 20, 2019 How to stop social media from making you feel bad about yourself Dec 20, 2019
- Dec 6, 2019 How to Tap Into and Listen to Your Intuition Dec 6, 2019
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November 2019
- Nov 26, 2019 7 Ways to Communicate More Effectively in Your Relationship Nov 26, 2019
- Nov 15, 2019 What parents of anxious children should know about anxiety Nov 15, 2019
- Nov 9, 2019 5 Signs CBT is Right for You Nov 9, 2019
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October 2019
- Oct 30, 2019 Mindfulness for Stress Relief Oct 30, 2019
- Oct 22, 2019 10 Mindfulness Apps to Improve Your Life Right Now Oct 22, 2019
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September 2019
- Sep 2, 2019 Live with Happiness by Identifying Your Values Sep 2, 2019
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July 2019
- Jul 21, 2019 11 Mindful Quotes for Serenity and Clarity Jul 21, 2019
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June 2019
- Jun 18, 2019 A Blessing for Career and Work Struggles Jun 18, 2019
- Jun 2, 2019 Accepting Yourself Unconditionally, As You Are Jun 2, 2019
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May 2019
- May 26, 2019 5 Things to Know if Your Teen is Dealing with Depression May 26, 2019
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February 2019
- Feb 24, 2019 17 Quotes on Love and Letting Go That'll Help You Move Forward and Heal Again Feb 24, 2019
- Feb 17, 2019 25 Inspiring Quotes That'll Help You Cultivate More Peace, Presence, and Joy in Your Life Feb 17, 2019
- Feb 10, 2019 35 Positive Affirmations for Anxiety and Depression That Will Transform Your Life Feb 10, 2019
- Feb 3, 2019 18 Beautiful Quotes About Intimacy and Love Feb 3, 2019
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January 2019
- Jan 28, 2019 18 Quotes to Inspire Self-Kindness and Self-Compassion Jan 28, 2019
- Jan 20, 2019 4 Tips for Coping with Depression Jan 20, 2019
- Jan 14, 2019 19 Powerful Brene Brown Quotes on Embracing Vulnerability, Love, and Belonging Jan 14, 2019
- Jan 6, 2019 16 Calming Quotes to Relieve Stress and Anxiety Jan 6, 2019
- Jan 3, 2019 7 Ways to Cope When Life is Hard: DBT IMPROVE the moment Jan 3, 2019
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December 2018
- Dec 27, 2018 4 Ways to Train Your Brain for Greater Happiness and Success Dec 27, 2018
- Dec 18, 2018 19 Inspiring Acceptance Quotes on Moving Forward and Letting Go Dec 18, 2018
- Dec 3, 2018 3 Simple Ways to Cultivate Kindness and Self-Compassion Dec 3, 2018
- Dec 2, 2018 29 Life Changing Quotes from Eckhart Tolle to Help You Cultivate Peace and Awaken to Your Life's Purpose Dec 2, 2018
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November 2018
- Nov 22, 2018 12 Quotes to Inspire You to Focus on Yourself Instead of Others Nov 22, 2018
- Nov 20, 2018 15 Beautiful Quotes to Inspire Gratitude Nov 20, 2018
- Nov 18, 2018 3 Ways to Find Meaning and Purpose in Your Life Nov 18, 2018
- Nov 14, 2018 7 Amazing Ways to Practice Gratitude Nov 14, 2018
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October 2018
- Oct 30, 2018 3 Life Changing Poems That You Need to Read Oct 30, 2018
- Oct 28, 2018 5 Things You Need to Know About Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) Oct 28, 2018
- Oct 16, 2018 15 Inspirational Mental Health Quotes That Will Help You Feel Less Alone Oct 16, 2018
- Oct 10, 2018 24 Resources for Children and Teens with Anxiety and Their Families Oct 10, 2018
- Oct 5, 2018 3 Tips for Parenting a Child with Chronic Pain Oct 5, 2018
- Oct 4, 2018 12 Quotes That Describe What It's Like to Live with Bipolar Disorder Oct 4, 2018
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September 2018
- Sep 29, 2018 27 Inspirational Quotes That Will Give You Hope and Strength During Hard Times Sep 29, 2018
- Sep 26, 2018 List of Emotions Sep 26, 2018
- Sep 24, 2018 21 Mindfulness Quotes Sep 24, 2018
- Sep 19, 2018 26 Depression Resources for Kids, Teens, and Parents Sep 19, 2018
- Sep 18, 2018 28 Anxiety Resources for Adults Sep 18, 2018
- Sep 16, 2018 15 Quotes That Describe What Depression Feels Like Sep 16, 2018
- Sep 13, 2018 How to Find the Right Psychologist for You Sep 13, 2018
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August 2018
- Aug 8, 2018 3 Ways to Grow from Pain Aug 8, 2018
Getting to know your inner child is a journey of self-discovery and healing. It’s about honoring the child within you, understanding their needs, and providing the care they’ve longed for. While the process can be challenging, the rewards—greater self-awareness, emotional freedom, and a more fulfilling life—are well worth the effort. Here’s how you can start.