🕯️ IFS and the Inner Child

The inner child in IFS isn’t a metaphor — it’s an exile, a real part of your system that still carries the sensations, emotions, and memories from early life. It’s the one who felt small, scared, unseen, or overpowered — and who still lives within you, waiting for company.

A protector may roll its eyes: “We’re not doing that childish stuff.”

Another may guard the child fiercely, terrified that remembering will reopen unbearable pain.

IFS doesn’t push past them. It asks gently:

• “Would it be okay if we just stayed nearby?”

• “Can the child know we’re here now?”

  
  

When Self meets this young one with presence, the system begins to reorganize around care instead of survival. The child doesn’t need fixing — it needs witnessing.

In IFS, healing the inner child isn’t about revisiting the past; it’s about offering the safety that was missing. It’s the moment the child realizes it’s no longer alone.