. Because the carefree play of kidulting can return you to a positive, self-expressive moment in your childhood, it can also serve as a part of inner-child healing.
“In therapy, we seek to become curious about the inner child, and one way we start the process is by remembering what we loved as a child,” says Dr. Phillips. “What did we like doing, watching on TV, or listening to? Where were our favorite foods? Who were we most comfortable with? Did we have a favorite toy or book? With kidulting, we’re bringing some of these items back into our lives, and allowing the positive feelings to re-emerge,” she says.
Kidulting can be especially effective because it can directly activate one of the five senses.
If your childhood had fewer of these highlights, the feelings that surface may be painful, reflecting the parts of your inner child that are “underdeveloped, traumatized, or neglected in some way,” says Dr. Manly. Perhaps youable to play freely in childhood due to chaos or violence in your home, and engaging in childlike activities now just resurfaces that memory, she says. In that case, mindful kidulting—consciously leaning into the activities you3.