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INNER CHILD
7-Day Journaling Template
to
Rachel Havekost
INNER CHILD
journaling template
CONTENTS
page 3
What is my Inner Child?
page 4
What to Expect
pages 5-19
Seven Days of Journaling
page 20
Final Reflection
page 21
Index
@rachel_havekost www.rachelhavekost.com
INNER CHILD
journaling template
@rachel_havekost 3 www.rachelhavekost.com
INNER CHILD day one
journaling template
What is My
"Inner Child"?
Your Inner Child is the unconscious part of your
mind that holds your unmet childhood needs.
@rachel_havekost 4 www.rachelhavekost.com
INNER CHILD day one
journaling template
DAY ONE:
Get To Know Them
Find an old photo of yourself from childhood, between the ages of 0-11.
It should be a photo that sparks feelings of love, protection, and
tenderness.
If you don't have any photos, imagine yourself as a child, and allow
yourself to call on a visualization of whatever age seems to come to
mind.
As you look at/visualize your childhood self, answer the questions below:
What age am I here, and what drew me to this age?
How did my parents respond to my needs, desires, dreams, or personality at this age?
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INNER CHILD day two
journaling template
DAY TWO:
Channel Them
Our Inner Child is the most intuitive, creative, and
playful part of us.
Our dominant hand taps into the left side of the brain-
-the part that is critical and logical.
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INNER CHILD day two
journaling template
DAY TWO:
Channel Them
NON DOMINANT HAND:
Write your Name:
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INNER CHILD day two
journaling template
DAY TWO:
Channel Them
DOMINANT HAND:
What do you think when you look at your non-dominant handwriting?
@rachel_havekost 8 www.rachelhavekost.com
INNER CHILD day two
journaling template
DAY TWO:
Channel Them
NON-DOMINANT HAND (response):
What else do you want to say to assert yourself? You have full permission here:
@rachel_havekost 9 www.rachelhavekost.com
INNER CHILD day three
journaling template
DAY THREE:
Character Structures +Medicine
Statements
As children, our core needs revolve around safety, security, and love. At
each age in childhood, we look to our parents to model for us what it
looks like to navigate our feelings and experiences.
If, at each important juncture of our childhood, our needs are not met by
our parents, we may develop character structures that shape the way we
see ourself and the world long into adulthood.
In this exercise, you will identify your character structures, and write
mantras or "medicine statements" that are healing for each type.
@rachel_havekost 10 www.rachelhavekost.com
INNER CHILD day three
journaling template
DAY THREE:
Discover Unmet Needs
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INNER CHILD day four
journaling template
DAY FOUR:
Letter to Your Inner
Child
Letter writing is a powerful way to heal inner child wounds.
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INNER CHILD day four
journaling template
DAY FOUR:
Letter to Your Inner
Child
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INNER CHILD day five
journaling template
DAY FIVE:
Creativity and Play
Our Inner Child is where we access our creativity, imagination, and play.
Sadly, many of us lose this part of ourselves in childhood, either because it
wasn't encouraged or fostered by our parents, or we were ridiculed for
our imaginations, creative expression, or playful personality.
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INNER CHILD day five
journaling template
DAY FIVE:
Creativity and Play
Reflect on what the experience was like.
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INNER CHILD day six
journaling template
DAY SIX:
Relationships
A wounded Inner Child manifests in multiple ways in adult relationships.
Some of those manifestations include:
Today's exercise is about identifying your core wounds, so you can begin
to heal and repair them.
In your relationships, what behaviors do you have that feel out of your control, or that
you feel "icky" about?
How do your adult relationships mirror your childhood relationship with your parents, or
your observations of your parents' relationship?
How well are your needs met in your relationships? How much do you ask for your needs
to be met?
@rachel_havekost 16 www.rachelhavekost.com
INNER CHILD day six
journaling template
DAY SIX:
Relationships
Looking at your responses on the previous page, what themes come up? (trust, safety,
abandonment, anxiety, confusion, fear, control, jealousy, others?)
Take a moment to brainstorm what actions you can take in your adult life to begin
repairing some of the ways in which your Inner Child wounds are showing up in your
adult relationships. (If you can't think of ideas, see the last page for actionable Inner
Child exercises).
@rachel_havekost 17 www.rachelhavekost.com
INNER CHILD day seven
journaling template
DAY SEVEN:
Worth
A wounded Inner Child often produces core feelings of worthlessness.
These beliefs, at their very core, stem from the core belief of:
If you don't feel worth those experiences, you won't engage in those
practices.
On the next page, write your Inner Child a letter about their worth.
You can think about writing it from the perspective of a a loved one or
trusted person--anyone whose words would feel soothing and healing.
@rachel_havekost 18 www.rachelhavekost.com
INNER CHILD day seven
journaling template
DAY SEVEN:
Worth
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INNER CHILD reflection
journaling template
FINAL REFLECTION
Take a few minutes to reflect back on the week. What have you
learned about your Inner Child? What have you discovered they need
most? How can you begin to take care of and honor your inner child
in your day to day life?
Now that you know your Inner Child more intimately, you can begin
implementing exercises and practices in your adult life that honor and
care for your Inner Child in the ways that they were not honored in
childhood.
This is a list of some practices you can engage in and work towards to
begin integrating safety, security, and creativity back into your
consciousness.
Affirmation writing
Asking for your needs
Accepting responsibility for actions without over-apologizing
Creative projects
Clear expectations from others
Dancing or moving to music without structure
Enjoying play and silliness
Expression of all emotions, not just "good" ones
Follow your gut instincts
Keeping promises you make to yourself
Hitting a pillow, squeezing fists, or face paced exercise for healthy
anger expression
Mindfulness practices
Meditation
Play for the sake of play
Radical Acceptance
Respecting own and others' boundaries
Saying "no"
Somatic shaking
Setting clear boundaries
Speaking your truth
Taking time in the day just for yourself
Tending to own needs before the needs of others
Trusting your intuition
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for more inner child healing:
click the thumbnail or head to the url at the bottom of this page!
www.rachelhavekost.com/the-inner-child-journal