The Child in You
The Breakthrough Method for Bringing Out Your Authentic Self
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5.0 • 3 Ratings
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- $5.99
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- $5.99
Publisher Description
The breakthrough two-million-copy international bestseller about how to befriend your inner child to find happiness
"Compassionate, clear-eyed, and insightful . . . The Child in You is like your own personal therapist that you can carry around with you." --Lori Gottlieb, New York Times bestselling author of Maybe You Should Talk to Someone
Nominated for Malcolm Gladwell, Susan Cain, Adam Grant, and Daniel H. Pink’s Next Big Idea Club
We all want to be loved and to feel safe to express who we really are. But over time we grow estranged from what brings us our purest happiness--because everyday traumas, unyielding societal expectations, and the judgment of our parents and peers submerge our true self beneath layers of behaviors rooted in fear and shame and mistrust. In The Child in You, psychologist Stefanie Stahl guides you, step-by-step, through her therapeutic method that has helped millions to peel away these layers and reconnect with their inner child--both the shadow child, representing our deepest insecurities and the part of our self-esteem that is injured and unstable, and the sun child, representing our greatest joys and the part of our self-esteem that remains positive and intact.
The many examples and exercises in this book will help you discover your shadow child and sun child, identify which of the shadow child's dozen self-protection strategies are at work in you, and put into practice the array of proven self-reflection strategies to overcome negative influences and beliefs. Because it's never too late to have a happy childhood, or to bring your authentic self out from the shadows so you can embody your radiant individuality.
A PENGUIN LIFE TITLE
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
German clinical psychologist Stahl (Yes, No, Maybe) uses the metaphor of the inner child to help readers work through formative childhood experiences in this compassionate work. She proposes that the inner child is an unconscious part of one's personality defined in childhood, which is split between the "shadow child" (feelings of helplessness that inspire defense mechanisms and self-protection) and the "sun child," (feelings of love and protection that inspire self-esteem) and is often in conflict with one's "inner adult," or "our rational and reasonable mind." As people try to secure the four basic psychological needs of connection, autonomy, pleasure, and avoidance of displeasure, Stahl posits, the shadow child's negative beliefs lead to self-protection strategies that result in perfectionism, overadjustment, conflict avoidance, and other negative habits. To heal the shadow child, Stahl recommends reinforcing one's sun child and inner adult through self-reflection, rational analysis, and speaking to oneself as the shadow child. Stahl argues that one is "100 percent responsible" for one's own happiness, and that happiness must be attained through dismantling negative self-defense mechanisms and cultivating one's ability to live in the moment. Readers of psychology or self-help will be enlightened by this straightforward, intuitive, and sensitive investigation.
