Re-parenting: An Anxiety Coping Tool for Your Inner Child
Anxiety can make life feel difficult- like trying to win a race stuck in slow motion, while everyone else rushes around you. We’ve found that re-parenting can be a powerful tool for managing anxiety and dissolving the slow-mo haze. It helps you to reconnect with your inner child and create a supportive inner parent that can provide the emotional support and understanding that you need.
But how does it work? And what do you need to do to unlock this secret superpower to managing anxiety and thriving in your adult life?
We’re sharing secrets and keys to help you re-parent yourself so you can work toward healing your inner child while creating support for your mental health.
Before you begin, remember that our professionals are always here to help
What is Re-parenting?
Re-parenting is a totally different kind of self-care. It’s revolutionary in that it helps you regain a sense of control over your emotions and behaviors. It involves creating a supportive inner parent – a part of yourself that takes on the role of a caring and nurturing parent.
Growing up, you may have had a parent or guardian who was unable to provide you with the emotional and physical support that you needed. Or, perhaps, you had too much structure and control, leaving you feeling overwhelmed and out of control. No matter the specific circumstances, if you experienced a lack of love, care, and nurturing in your childhood, you may still be feeling the effects of that today. Thankfully, there is an effective tool for managing your anxiety – re-parenting.
This inner parent can provide the emotional support and understanding that you may not have received in your childhood.
How Re-parenting Can Help With Healing Your Inner Child
Re-parenting is a powerful tool for coping with life when you’re feeling anxious. It’s a way to give yourself the care and attention that you may have been lacking in the past. By being aware of your inner child, talking to yourself with compassionate words, and taking breaks to practice self-care, you can start to build a relationship of trust, love, and understanding with yourself.
This kind of self-nurturing helps you to reconnect to your inner child and learn to trust yourself. It also helps you to create boundaries and establish healthy relationships with others.
Re-parenting Techniques to Support Your Mental Health
When it comes to using re-parenting as an anxiety coping tool, it's important to remember that it is a process that takes time and patience.
Here are a few ways to guide a gentle beginning to this journey.
Identify and Connect with Your Inner Child
Your inner child is the part of you that holds all the memories, emotions, and experiences that make you who you are. But when those memories and experiences are upsetting, it can cause feelings of anxiety that can be hard to cope with.Take some time to acknowledge and listen to your inner child. Notice the feelings and needs that arise when you do this, and begin to think about how you can meet them.
Then, begin to imagine what kind of parent your inner child might have blossomed with. What would their love feel like? What would their response be to conflict, or to praise? Allow yourself to be creative and visualize yourself being nurtured and supported by this inner parent.
Create a Safe Space to Connect with Your Inner Child
Create a safe space in your home where you can go when you need to reconnect with your inner parent. This could be a corner of your bedroom, a cozy chair, or a nook in the garden.
For the reader whose inner child has always preferred to be outside rooting into the Earth and getting dirty, lean into that. Nature can be a powerful tool for calming anxiety and connecting with your inner child.
Practice Compassionate Self-Talk
Take time to practice self-talk that nurtures your healing and feeds strength into your coping strategies. You should talk to yourself in the same way that you’d speak to a cherished friend or even a pet you are nursing back to health. This can be a way to give yourself the validation and encouragement you need to cope with anxiety.
Take breaks and practice self-care. It’s important to give yourself time to rest and recharge. If you’re really feeling empowered, you could extend your self-talk toward something active as you encourage your mental wellbeing with movement, which could include activities such as yoga, meditation, journaling, and spending time in nature.
When to Seek Support
Reaching out to supportive people can be a great way to strengthen your connection to your inner parent. Spend time with people who make you feel seen, heard, and accepted. You can seek support from a licensed mental health therapist or join support groups (we’re running an awesome one for pregnant and postpartum mommas right now- if that’s you, check it out), in addition to developing a network of care in your community.
If you’re feeling like managing your anxiety is not sustainable, it might be time to ask for help in recognizing your inner child alongside adult-life anxiety triggers, and navigating through them.
Remember: It can take time to develop re-parenting skills, but it’s worth it. Re-parenting is a way to show yourself that you are valued and worthy of love. It’s a way to build self-esteem and feel connected to your emotions. As with every journey that nurtures your sense of self and fosters growth, it’s important to recognize that mistakes are part of the learning process and that it’s okay to make them. Doing this can help you develop healthier relationships and make healthier decisions in your life.
With re-parenting, you can give yourself the support and understanding you need to cope with anxiety and love yourself for who you are. If you commit to patience and practice, you can learn to trust yourself and take control of your own mental health. Luna Joy can help. Get in touch today if you’re looking for support with your mental health as you heal your inner child and conquer anxiety in your life!
