5 Thoughtful Shadow Work Journal Prompts to Heal Your Wounded Inner Child

Childhood Experiences You May Not Have Been Able to Process

When I was in elementary school, I witnessed a traumatic event dealing with a family member. It was a life-or-death situation, and I was paralyzed by fear.

My brain and nervous system were still developing and not quite strong enough to know how to process and integrate the flood of negative emotions I was feeling. So, it did what it’s designed to do, it put me in “survival mode."

What Is The Shadow?

According to Jungian psychology, the shadow is the unconscious or dark side of the psyche.

It’s not dark in that it’s bad. Rather, it’s dark because you aren’t aware that it’s there

The Role of the Ego

You see, when you’re born, the mind develops what is called the ego.

Now, the function of the ego is to process information and store it away in the brain. However, when you experience little and big “T” trauma, the ego doesn’t always know how to fully process such. 

The Inner Healing Work

Almost everyone could benefit from embracing an inner healing work journey. This is the kind of journey that requires you to consciously go within to see if there's any shadows lurking that are causing you to experience negative thoughts, emotions, or behaviors.

n It Janice Cherekana