Three things
First, my therapist wants me to support and encourage this inner child when tackling something difficult.
I'm focussing on cooking and getting dressed. T's suggestion of what I might say is along the lines of "it's Ok sweetheart, I'm with you , we'll do this together", but I tend to find myself thinking more along the lines of "Come on, I know you find this difficult, but we have to do it so let's get on with it" The trouble is I don't find it charming and sweet, just an annoying demand when I'm already struggling, and it is much easier to tip into self-attack for motivation
Second, I don't wholly believe in an inner child. T thinks this is partly because I have no pictures of myself as a child. She says I'm the only client who has not been able to find some, somewhere. That seems unlikely to me. Whatever the cause, I find it hard to commit to caring for something that common sense says is just an analogy.
I tend mentally to translate most of what she says about inner child into Structural Dissociation terms, and see the inner child as an EP. But while I'm sort of grateful that something else is minding the trauma stuff, I find this child/ emotional personality unappealing and irritating. I WANT to be Apparently Normal, and I don't want to be bothered with it.
Third, I have a persistent sense of my real self as a small child in an adult world. A former T whose insight I trusted said I was regresssed but hid it. As a child, I have no resources to offer to some other child.
Yet, I do believe there is sense in the approach T wants to take, and I want to work at applying it.
Any suggestions?
First, my therapist wants me to support and encourage this inner child when tackling something difficult.
I'm focussing on cooking and getting dressed. T's suggestion of what I might say is along the lines of "it's Ok sweetheart, I'm with you , we'll do this together", but I tend to find myself thinking more along the lines of "Come on, I know you find this difficult, but we have to do it so let's get on with it" The trouble is I don't find it charming and sweet, just an annoying demand when I'm already struggling, and it is much easier to tip into self-attack for motivation
Second, I don't wholly believe in an inner child. T thinks this is partly because I have no pictures of myself as a child. She says I'm the only client who has not been able to find some, somewhere. That seems unlikely to me. Whatever the cause, I find it hard to commit to caring for something that common sense says is just an analogy.
I tend mentally to translate most of what she says about inner child into Structural Dissociation terms, and see the inner child as an EP. But while I'm sort of grateful that something else is minding the trauma stuff, I find this child/ emotional personality unappealing and irritating. I WANT to be Apparently Normal, and I don't want to be bothered with it.
Third, I have a persistent sense of my real self as a small child in an adult world. A former T whose insight I trusted said I was regresssed but hid it. As a child, I have no resources to offer to some other child.
Yet, I do believe there is sense in the approach T wants to take, and I want to work at applying it.
Any suggestions?
