Reparenting
- “what is reparenting yourself”
- “how to give yourself what you didn't get”
- “limited reparenting schema therapy”
- “can I reparent myself”
:: COMPARE ::
ReparentingvsInner child work
The short answer
They're two halves of one idea rather than alternatives. Inner child work names what's being addressed — the needs still carried from childhood. Reparenting names what's done about it. You can't really do the second without the first.
Side by side
| Aspect | Reparenting | Inner child work |
|---|---|---|
| Answers | What to do | What's there |
| Clinical form | Limited reparenting | Schema modes, IFS |
| Delivered by | A therapist, or yourself | Reflection |
| Risk | Over-nurturing | Literalising |
Which one you meant
Readers who land here meaning Reparenting rather than Inner child work are usually searching for phrases like “what is reparenting yourself”, “how to give yourself what you didn't get”, “limited reparenting schema therapy”.
Inner Child
- “what does inner child work mean”
- “why do I react like a child sometimes”
- “healing your inner child explained”
- “is inner child work real”
Which came first
Inner child work. 1940 — Carl Jung's essay 'The Psychology of the Child Archetype' sets out the divine-child archetype, credited as the origin of the idea. Jung never used the phrase 'inner child' — that comes later, with Capacchione (1976) and Bradshaw (1990).
- 1940Inner ChildCarl Jung's essay 'The Psychology of the Child Archetype' sets out the divine-child archetype, credited as the origin of the idea. Jung never used the phrase 'inner child' — that comes later, with Capacchione (1976) and Bradshaw (1990).
- 1990s–2003ReparentingJeffrey Young's schema therapy formalises 'limited reparenting', in which the therapist acts as a good parent within the boundaries of the therapy relationship, as a core change mechanism.
Read either one in full