27 Journal Prompts For Inner Child Healing Work
Journaling is a therapeutic tool for inner child healing because it allows you to revisit unresolved traumas and unload your deepest emotions…I know that doesn’t sound fun but you must heal EVERY part of yourself to achieve authentic happiness. In this post, discover 27 POWERFUL journaling prompts to work through painful childhood memories and heal your inner child!
A Little Bit About Journaling
If you have never journaled before you may be wondering what that even means, how to do it, and why so many people pick up this habit. Journaling is simply writing down your thoughts, emotions, intentions, and so on without the fear of judgment or punishment. Journaling is a very popular habit because IT WORKS! There is something about getting the words out of your brain and on paper (or on your phone) that is a HUGE relief!! Keeping a journal is meant to be private and for your eyes only so you’re encouraged to release ANYTHING and EVERYTHING!!
Most of the time, the negative thoughts and emotions we have don’t really have any meaning…it’s just the anger and frustration coming out in an unhealthy way because we can’t express our unfiltered thoughts using a healthy outlet. When you are able to unload your unfiltered thoughts you can then release the negativity that is festering within you.
Journaling is also great to release positive emotions, thoughts, and intentions! Sometimes we can not express our full and genuine happiness to others so having an alternative outlet to unload allows for more good things to keep flowing.
To journal, you can simply use a blank notebook and respond to prompts you find online or on Pinterest. You can also purchase a guided journal that has daily prompts for you to respond to. Use whatever you feel comfortable with as the most important thing is to simply be consistent!
Some Benefits of Journaling…
Journaling is a wonderful way to reduce, manage, and cope with anxiety, depression, and/or stress. It can also help you gain clarity on a problem, fear, and/or concern. Keeping a mood and health journal allows you to track triggers and symptoms. It can also help identify negative habits that need personal improvement as journaling promotes self-reflection.
What is Your Inner Child?
Your inner child is a part of your subconscious that has experienced fear, trauma, neglect, and/or significant loss during your childhood. This part of yourself is carried throughout your life and heavily influences how you respond and react to major and daily life situations. Your inner child is you from the day you were born all the way up to the end of your teenage years. Your inner child is who lived through traumatic, agonizing, and prominent experiences that molded who you are today. The way you respond to good news or bad news is a direct correlation to how you responded when you were in your childhood years as your mind was easily influenced and sculpted your adult brain.
The state of your inner child has a big impact on your decisions and how you function as your subconscious plays a HUGE part in your consciousness because it is the first reaction in any given situation. If your inner child is in a place of despair, anger, distrust, anguish, sadness, bitterness, and hurt, you can expect to be short-tempered, anxious, angry, depressed, and paranoid. A healthy inner child is able to process all situations in a positive and mature way so that you feel happy, calm, peaceful, and balanced; this is the goal!
Journaling and Inner Child Work
Journaling is a therapeutic tool for inner child healing because it allows you to revisit unresolved traumas and unload your deepest emotions…I know that doesn’t sound fun but you must heal EVERY part of yourself to achieve authentic happiness. Inner child healing can not happen unless you resurface traumatic emotions as you must work through the feelings that you were not emotionally mature enough to deal with at that time. Journaling encourages you to dig deep within yourself and uncover painful memories you may have forgotten about BUT this is necessary to heal and move forward.
Use these journaling prompts to work through painful childhood memories and heal your inner child!
27 Journal Prompts For Inner Child Work
- When you were a kid, how did you imagine your life would be when you were grown up?
- What did you wish your childhood self knew that you know now?
- What did you do for fun as a child?
- What did you want to be when you grew up?
- What did you daydream about when you were a kid?
- Who was your childhood hero? What about them did you love?
- Who were your closest friends growing up? What did you like about them?
- Who were your favorite teachers and why?
- What is your first memory?
- Describe a time when someone hurt your feelings.
- Write about a time when you hurt someone else’s feelings as a kid.
- How do you deal with emotional discomfort?
- How can you get closure on the challenging times and traumas your inner child has suffered?
- How can you get to know yourself better?
- How did I see the world? How did I see it differently through the lens of a child?
- What can you do now to honor the needs of your inner child?
- What makes you feel jealous? Where does that feeling of envy stem from?
- How can you be kinder to yourself?
- What do you have negative self-talk about?
- What makes me feel anxious? Where do these feelings stem from?
- In what areas of life do you hold yourself to an unachievable standard?
- What grudges are you holding on to? How can you let them go?
- Do you prioritize yourself?
- What is one time that you forgave yourself for messing up?
- What is your first memory of feeling ashamed?
- What scares you? Do you avoid the things that scare you or do you take them head on? Why?
- Did you have an imaginary friend as a child? Write about them.
Final Thoughts
The most important thing to remember when journaling is that NO ONE will look at what you write so just dump everything! Let your thoughts come as they may and don’t judge yourself! Do not be discouraged if at first your thoughts are on the darker more negative side…remember, you can’t reach the good without experiencing some bad! Those unfiltered thoughts need to be released one way or another before they grow and become something real within you; journaling is the best outlet for this as you can unload without worrying that people will hold it against you.