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Many years ago I had a friend who told me about the work she was doing with her therapist on healing her ‘inner child.’ At that time I thought she was out of her mind…until I started doing hypnosis sessions with my clients using the idea that everyone has an inner child… and for those who have been traumatized, it is their inner child (children) that is running their lives because the inner child is trying to protect them from being hurt again. It is the inner child that creates the defense mechanisms that cause many to develop defense mechanisms that outlived their purpose making the life of the individual much more difficult.

For example, I will use a client of mine whom I saw many years ago, who put on a ton of weight as a result of being molested by one of her mother’s lovers when she was young. By holding on to the fat she was making herself undesirable to men so she would not have to deal with another man molesting her again.

Another example from case histories of those with anorexia: In some cases, these kids have been raised by parents who expected them to be perfect – straight As in school, talented in extracurricular activities, etc. It put so much pressure on them that they developed the defense mechanism of being perfect. As a result of the perfectionism they expected from themselves, they would become ‘people pleasers’ to gain the love of those around them. But, there was a problem with this development. The people for whom they were doing all these favors did not recognize them, which made the anorexic resentful. Fights would ensue, and life would be miserable.

Other examples are those who get into drug and/or alcohol abuse to stop having the negative self-deprecating thoughts they have in their minds. Often this is due to symptoms of depression, with it all starting as a way to self-medicate.

When I work with my clients, I have many techniques that I use besides healing the inner child. However, it is one of the best ways to help my clients release the old defense mechanisms so that the client no longer is acting in these negative ways. Instead, they learn that these defense mechanisms outlived their purpose and are replaced with positive life-giving thoughts and behaviors.

I searched Google Scholar to see if I could find any peer-reviewed papers on the subject, but I did not find any, though I did find a bunch of books that have been written on the subject.

What I can tell you is that after doing this work for over 20 years, I ALWAYS do inner child work with my clients who have a history of trauma. It is a very impactful process and takes very little time to do in the hypnotic state.