What is Inner Child Therapy?
May 25, 2022
September 18, 2023
We identify an incident and the worst part. We then identify uncomfortable beliefs associated with the incident and the worst part. But we also look at a comfortable belief you would like to have if the memory or something similar comes up again in life. We also take a rating of the comfortable belief, and the goal is to reach a 7 which is true. We identify what emotions you are feeling in the session and where you are feeling it in your body and identify how distressing the incident is between 0 and 10.
The first part is desensitization where you think of the incident, the worst part, and where you feel it in your body. While thinking, you follow my fingers back and forth. You can also at this time, tap on your own body, or I use art to also engage in the eye movements.
Between a certain number of movements, we stop, breathe, and I ask you what you are noticing. During the blocks of eye movements, the client may experience a slight increase in distress, but then the body and mind give and there is a release in distress. There is a change in thoughts, feelings, and outlook about the event, so the event also begins to change. Perhaps it no longer feels like it is currently happening, and it is back in the past where it belongs. Perhaps a tightness in the chest, throat, or back has finally been released. This is the event no longer having a hold on you, and when you reach a 0 in distress, if the memory comes up, or an activation (trigger) becomes present in your life, it will not be accompanied by as much intensity and distress in the mind and body. Reckless behaviors or intense emotional experiences will not occur, and you will be able to cope using healthy skills.
The second part is the installation of the comfortable belief or the reprocessing. This can be almost as challenging if you have had uncomfortable beliefs for a long time the brain might not want to let them go. The mind at this point tries to accept that you did do the best you could, you do deserve love and are worthy of great things. If your brain is struggling, there are cues I can ask to help your mind truly believe your comfortable thoughts.
During this portion, you think of the incident and your comfortable belief together and the same as before you follow my fingers or whichever form of eye movement you selected. We stop after a certain number of movements and identify what we are noticing with our thoughts, feelings, and body experiences. When an individual reaches a 7, the comfortable belief is totally true, it can be an empowering experience and provide a sense of strength to have this thought compared to the uncomfortable beliefs from the past.
The third part is identifying if there is any residual distress in the body. If some are present from processing, we focus on the feelings and complete the eye movements again until the distress in the body is gone.
