Where did the child go?

Childhood; the Prelude to our Adult Self

Childhood years shape our adult life more than we imagine. Our childhood is a fruitful place to revisit when trying to discover our ‘sense of self’ - who we truly are. Rarely are our present day issues fully resolved without some consideration of how we came to be ‘here’.

The Child Within

As adults, we comprise many different sub-personalities or ‘parts’. It is not uncommon for us to occasionally feel that a part of us ‘never really grew up’; as if stuck in a childlike state, despite the repertoire of our outward adult appearance.

When we are little, we are utterly dependent on the adults around us. As we grow towards independence, navigating tensions between the ‘colonising’ expectations of an adult world ‘out there’; whilst nurturing the emotional vulnerabilities of our inner landscape - is rarely a perfectly calibrated process. Its excesses and imbalances lead us to protect the child that remains within us. Necessarily, we grow an outward ‘false self’ to preserve our inner ‘true self’. But, if our inner and outer worlds are completely disconnected, we deprive ourselves of ever feeling contented in life.

Bitter Sweet

For many reflecting on childhood experience is enriching; but for some returning to an unhappy childhood requires considerable courage, even alongside someone who is trusted. My role is to help you make that journey, compassionately and safely. My hope is that you might catch a glimpse of important aspects of yourself that went missing or became disconnected from your childhood days.