085 | Inner Child Work: Going Home for the Holidays
Going home for the holidays is a blend of “Ooh, that sounds cozy!” and “Ugh, that’s a nightmare filled with bad thermostat settings and uncomfortable furniture.” The fact that I’ve lived outside my parents’ home for more than 30 years doesn’t matter—the minute I walk back through the doors, I revert to my wounded inner child, equipped with the same endless loop of stories and resentments and ready to rumble.
If you were in my shoes, what would you do when your deeply wounded, angry inner child shows up as the house guest?
In this episode, I discuss how to manage going home for the holidays with your inner child. I describe how my siblings and I revert to our younger versions whenever we come home. I also highlight the importance of digging deeper into the past while staying grounded in the present and the gift of moving from self-judgment to self-compassion.
“You can acknowledge the old shit that lights you up like an inferno, but it’s in the present that you have the greatest ability not to act on those memories in the moment.” - Karen Goldfinger Baker
This week on the Trauma Hiders Club Podcast:
● How going home for the holidays makes us revert to our younger selves
● The power of noticing and knowing the story behind the stories
● A tale of bar mitzvahs and the importance of knowing what memories are real or made up
● Digging into the past while grounded in the present
● Moving from self-judgment to self-compassion