Inner Child Liberation

As someone with PTSD I’ve been intrigued with learning about methods that focus on our inner child in the process of healing. Most of them have exercises inside that feel awkward and silly at best. This book is different. Inner Child Liberation: A Step-By-Step Guide To Heal Past Wounds and Unhealthy Patterns for Emotional Freedom, Improved Relationships, and Increased Self Worth by Amy Duncan focuses on more practical exercises that don’t feel ridiculous to do. Many of the skills Duncan includes in the book reflect skills from Dialectical Behavior Therapy, which is a highly effective mode of therapy that helps to regulate ourselves and our relationships with others. There is a companion workbook included with the book which has great worksheets to help with the suggestions in the book and help to identify patterns that can help to heal the wounds of the past. However, I have a couple of points that would improve the book. The exercises in each chapter don’t necessarily appear to be connected with each other, so I felt like it was a big list of activities that happened to get divided into chapters. Additionally, I wish the author had described some of the activities in more detail in the book despite the workbook accompanying it. Some of the exercises involve meditation which can be hard to understand if you don’t have a concrete example, so I wish she had gone into more detail when describing the exercises. As a side note, I say this from experience of trying to teach others to meditate. There is some great research in the book, so the author has picked out what helped her heal from the past and done some additional research which is a smart move. The book is well written and easy to read and understand. I think this book will be a great resource and means of healing for those dealing with issues stemming from childhood. I would rate this book as 4 out of 5 stars.