Ho'oponopono and the Inner Child
In this article, I explore the relationship between the concepts of healing through ho'oponopono and the inner child and its healing to heal the adult person.
A link may be drawn between the two methods of mental and emotional healing, although there are some differences that set the two apart.
While I have already published a number of articles concerned with the topic of ho'oponopono certification practice and how the process can be used to clean the mind of emotional blockages, it will also help to gain an understanding of the inner child concept to draw an informed conclusion as to the differences between the two.
Discovering the Inner Child
The concept of every person psychologically possessing an inner child was one originated by psychologist Carl Jung early in the 20th Century and later developed in books, "The Primal Scream" and "The Feeling Child" by Vivian and Arthur Janov in 1970 and 1973 respectively.
The concept is basically that we hold onto the physical and emotional experiences of our own childhood to adulthood. These experiences shape our behaviour and to a certain extent our very outlook on life.
It follows that positive experiences as a child have positive effects on adult life, whereas negative experiences have a negative effect, with emphasis placed on childhood trauma and highly emotional reactions to that trauma.
The more powerful the positive or negative emotions associated with those past experiences, the more pronounced the negative effects in adulthood.
Working with the Inner Child
Clearly, positive occurrences pose no real problems in later life and an abundance of them can springboard an adult to strong growth and a productive and happy life.
On the other hand, the more serious kind of problems surface in adulthood in response to negative and traumatic experiences in childhood. These usually require phycological assistance to come to terms with and overcome.
One powerful effect of using ho'oponopono to clean is the gentle removal of mental blockages that were placed in the psyche at the time of the childhood traumatic event(s).
Known as repressions (repressed memories), the origin of these blockages are often unknown to the person, hence the repression of the memory of the event when the circumstances of that event were deemed (by the psyche) too traumatic for the immature mind to cope with at the time.
How do I Reprogram My Inner Child?
The accepted therapy for reprogramming the trauma experienced by and held captive the inner child is a course of psychoanalysis, or hypno-analysis where the repressed memory or memories is/are revealed and faced with the now mature adult mind.
Healing follows as the person comes to terms with the actuality and often terrible nature of past events, enabling them to let go of the associated guilt and to forgive themselves.
In a similar way, ho'oponopono can also be used to assist a person to release their repressions through the mental cleaning process, although the procedure is somewhat different to that of the psychotherapist.
How Do I Empower My Inner Child?
Upon revealing and coming to terms with a past repressed event, a person is enabled to release the negative emotions associated with the event.
As those pent-up emotions are released, the person is left feeling a personal release from whatever virtual shackles they perceived were holding them back from growing as they should in life. This in itself is empowering.
Once free of whatever is holding a person back, the person can then freely move forward, empowered and invigorated to attain greater heights in their journey through life.
A healed inner child manifests in a healed adult, enabled to reach for new goals and achieve them. The use of the ho'oponopono technique can be instrumental in enabling this.
How Does Healing the Inner Child Differ from Ho'oponopono?
The differences between the two methods of healing the inner child and mental cleansing with the ho'oponopono technique are a lot wider than many initially believe.
The psychologist seeks to bring about a release of pent up negative emotion and guilt through the revelation of the hurt done to the person as a child. On the other hand, ho'oponopono supposes that all existence is within and only by cleaning the "within" can the "without" be made right.
The psychologist has a hard job on their hands in trying to gently locate and reveal past trauma to a patient, as memory of such events tend to be repressed to the point the patient has no knowledge or memory of them ever happening.
The Hawaiian prayer healer doesn't need to know the nature of past trauma, just that all experience is within the patient and that is where the treatment is focused to bring about cleaning, self realization and making things right again.
Conclusion
The two methods of healing are very different in their approach and execution, with the one seeking to reveal and accept the wrongs done in the past, while the other cleans from the inside to make things right for the person being cleaned.
Ho'oponopono healing is a powerful yet relatively simple technique that can transform a person and the exterior life that surrounds them through constant use and perseverance, while healing the inner child takes a more complex form to bring about the revelation of past injustices.
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