Inner child work is something I learned in Psychotherapy many years ago. We all have within us a child of every age we ever were, and working with those parts of ourselves can be incredibly useful. Understanding who we once were and how our past experienced shaped us is insightful. Using a simple written question and answer dialogue, as if you were talking to another person, you can have a conversation with any of those parts of yourself.
You might be surprised to discover what the little girl or teenager you once were is thinking about something that is currently going on in your life. Or it could be that an old experience is colouring your thoughts about a situation you're facing as an adult. This is super-simple to do. Now you might think this is a bit weird if you've not done it before, but trust me on this one, it is really, really useful at times. In your journal (if you have one) or on a piece of paper, in a Google Doc or an email to yourself, you can get started. All you need to do is simply ask a question to begin; something like, "How are you doing?" or "I thought it might be useful or fun to have a little chat. I'd love to know what you think about...?". You can name the two parts of yourself if you like, sometimes I use Kat (my nickname in our family as my inner child's name) and Kathryn (my adult self). This is what a dialogue might look like. Kathryn: How are you doing today Kat? Kat: I'm great thanks. I really enjoyed our day out to the beach yesterday; it would be great if we could do that more often. Kathryn: Yes, I enjoyed it too, and you're quite right, it would be good to do it more often; I'll schedule it in my calendar so I don't forget. Is there anything you'd like to talk about today? Continue the dialogue until it feels like it's finished; it really is that simple to do. Ask the questions and see what comes, you might be surprised. Let's know in the comments if you've tried this. I'd love to hear how it works for you.
p.s. Want to know when my book, If Not Now, When? will be ready for pre-sales? If so, sign up here.