WHEN A METAPHOR BECOMES TOXIC “What About My Inner Child”

Some people do not seem to know that the phrase “inner child” is a metaphor. They take it literally. Yet because it is a metaphor, it is not real. There is no actual or literal “inner child” inside you or anyone. It’s just a way of talking. It’s a metaphor.

Now a meta-phor is a higher level frame of reference or meaning (meta), which is brought in (phroein) to provide a governing interpretation and understanding for something that is not so well understood. In metaphor we bring in and apply something tangible, something real, something sensory-based to something intangible like a concept. If you compare “communication” (a vague non-sensory-based concept) to a war, you have metaphors like, “Be careful what you say in the meeting, your idea could get shot down.” If you compare it to a dance, “We were in such sync with each other, it was like a tango.” The tangible source is brought and applied to the target.