Tending the Wounded Child Within: A Path to True Healing

Inside each of us lives a younger version of ourselves—a tender, wide-eyed being who once felt everything deeply, who needed love, safety, and presence. Sometimes that inner child still carries wounds: echoes of moments when needs weren’t met, emotions weren’t held, or love came with conditions.

So often in our adult lives, we feel anxiety, fear, shame or unworthiness without fully understanding why. And yet, when we pause and gently trace those feelings back, we often find a much younger self—waiting, silently, for someone to listen.

This is the heart of inner child work: not to dwell in the past, but to reconnect with the parts of us that got left behind. When we begin to tend to those inner wounds with compassion, awareness and care, we unlock something profound—true healing from the inside out.

Many of us learned, whether through family, culture, or life’s hardships, to disconnect from our feelings. We learned to “just get on with it,” to be strong, to stay quiet. But healing asks something different of us. It asks us to soften. To feel. To remember.

Connecting with your inner child doesn’t mean you’ve failed or regressed—it means you’re healing at the roots.

When we honour the inner child, we start to understand our patterns with more compassion. That anxious attachment, that fear of rejection, that harsh inner critic—all often trace back to unmet childhood needs. And instead of blaming ourselves or others, we create space to meet those needs now—with the wisdom we hold as adults.

Begin gently. You might place a hand on your heart or belly and simply say, “I see you. I hear you. You matter.” Or sit quietly and imagine your younger self—what would they want to tell you? What would they have needed to hear?

This work isn’t about fixing something broken. It’s about remembering your wholeness.

I’ve seen again and again, both in my own journey and in those I’ve supported, that when we care for our inner child, we feel more grounded, more loving, more free. We stop looking outside ourselves for validation. We stop re-enacting old stories. We begin to show up in life with greater authenticity and ease.

You don’t need to do it all at once. You don’t need to have all the answers. What your inner child needs most is your presence. Your patience. Your willingness to sit with them, just as they are.

Healing is not a destination—it’s a relationship. And the most important relationship you’ll ever nurture is the one within.

So take a moment today to be still. To turn inward. To listen. That little one inside is not a problem to be solved—they are a gift to be loved.

And when you offer that love to yourself, everything begins to shift.

With deep love and light,
Nicola