The Inner Path to Healing Childhood Wounds: Q&A With Carolina Bracco, Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Founder of Inner Path Therapy

Healing from toxic relationships often begins long before we meet a partner or navigate conflict—it begins within us, rooted in the experiences and wounds of our childhood. The way we learned to give, receive, and expect love as children shapes the patterns we carry into adulthood. For many, unhealed childhood trauma can silently influence our relationships, leading to repeated cycles of mistrust, fear, or self-doubt. Understanding and addressing these early wounds is not just about “fixing the past”; it’s about reclaiming our inner strength, learning to love ourselves fully, and creating the healthy, fulfilling relationships we deserve.

To explore this journey of self-discovery and healing, we spoke with Carolina Bracco, a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) and founder of Inner Path Therapy. Carolina specializes in guiding adults who grew up in toxic or dysfunctional family environments through the inner work necessary to break these patterns, reconnect with their authentic selves, and cultivate relationships that are rooted in trust, respect, and self-compassion. In this Q&A, she shares her approach to inner child healing, how childhood wounds show up in adult relationships, and the steps anyone can take to walk their own “inner path” toward emotional freedom and thriving connections.

Introduce yourself, the work and focus you do, and how it all started for you that led you to start Inner Path Therapy?

"My name is Carolina, and I’m a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) and the founder of Inner Path Therapy. I help adult children of toxic or dysfunctional families heal from childhood trauma so they can finally feel empowered and learn to love themselves.

My work focuses on inner child healing, trauma recovery, EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), and parts work. These tools allow us to go deep, to gently untangle the past so clients can live more freely in the present.

I’ve been a therapist for a few years, and what keeps me going is witnessing the resilience and transformation in the people I work with. I truly believe in our capacity to heal, and it’s an honor to walk alongside my clients on their path.

I started Inner Path Therapy because I wanted the freedom to help people in a more authentic and holistic way outside the constraints of traditional systems. Having my own practice has allowed me to fully align my work with my values and focus on what I do best: supporting people who grew up feeling unseen, dismissed, responsible for everyone else and dealing with the effects of trauma.

What is your mission with Inner Path Therapy?

My mission with Inner Path Therapy is to help people thrive after childhood trauma and learn how to truly love themselves and start trusting their guts. I focus on going deep in therapy by getting to the root of the symptoms, which often means exploring what happened in childhood and making something meaningful out of that pain in the present.

At its core, my work is about helping clients build a healthier, more compassionate relationship with themselves, so they can show up more fully in life, connect more deeply with the people who matter (their partners, children, friends), and feel empowered in the present moment.

What does the term “Inner Path” mean to you, and how is it different from traditional therapy?

The name Inner Path came to me in a dream, right before I opened my practice. In the dream, I was walking along a natural path toward the ocean. The trail was clear, and I felt grounded and certain of something, completely connected to something bigger than myself. When I woke up, I meditated on the image, and the name just came to me: Inner Path Therapy. I knew immediately that was it. It felt like intuition.

To me, Inner Path carries several layers of meanings:

First, it's the internal journey we all take. I often say, “the way out is in.” The answers, the teacher, the student, the wisdom, they all live within us. Healing is an inward journey. True transformation begins when we turn inward and reconnect with what’s been there all along.

Second, the inner path reflects the emotional landscape of life inside of us, the ups and downs, the hard climbs, the shady spots, the burning sun, the breathtaking views. It mirrors the human experience: grief, sadness, joy, connection, loneliness, beauty. This journey is messy and sacred. It’s not linear. It’s not always easy. And yet, it’s a real path we all go through inside of us.

Third, it's the shared path I walk with each client. In session, I go as far and as deep as they’re ready to go. I'm a guide, a witness, a companion on their journey walking beside them through their internal world.

Inner Path is different from traditional therapy in many ways. While I am trained as a clinician, I don’t believe in pathologizing people or reducing them to a diagnosis. Labels can sometimes be helpful for understanding patterns, and I do use them when needed, for example, if a client requests a superbill for insurance, but I never want a diagnosis to become a person’s identity. My work is about their humanity, not their "label."

Another difference is that my practice doesn’t just focus on how to manage a toxic parent or survive family dynamics. It's about healing from the inside out. That means helping clients trust themselves, release guilt, and reconnect with the parts of them that were silenced, shamed, or ignored. We don’t just talk about what’s happening during the week, we work directly through inner child work, parts work, EMDR, guided visualization, and creative strategies that go far beyond venting.

Inner Path Therapy is an invitation to go inward, to do the real work of healing, not just venting about the week. I help my clients address the root causes of their struggles so they can experience lasting transformation, let go of shame, and feel emotionally free.

What is your approach/process for your clients when working on inner child work?

My approach to inner child work is rooted in parts work (Ego States), creative expression, and the Relationship Recovery Program (RRP) model. I use a variety of tools including guided visualizations, meditations, journaling, expressive writing, and inner child dialogue exercises to help my clients reconnect with their inner child and begin building a loving, compassionate relationship with that part of themselves. One of the most powerful exercises is a written dialogue between the adult self and the inner child: the adult writes with the dominant hand, and the child responds with the non-dominant hand.

For example, the adult might write: “Hi little John, I noticed that you’re feeling sad. Can we talk about it? What are you feeling?”

Then, the child responds from the non-dominant hand (often raw, unfiltered emotion). The adult follows up gently with the dominant hand: "What does this remind you of growing up?"

The goal is to listen, validate, and comfort that part of the self that was once unheard. I encourage clients to say everything their inner child needed to hear but never did, things like: "You matter. Your feelings are important. It makes sense how you feel. I’m so sorry Mom said that horrible thing to you, that was not okay. She was supposed to encourage you. You didn’t deserve to be humiliated. I’m here now, and I am learning to take care of you."

Another crucial part of this dialogue is helping the inner child understand that the present is not the past. The person triggering them now isn’t their mom or dad, even if it feels that way. Today, they have more tools, more autonomy, and more support to face what’s in front of them. This reframing helps clients ground themselves in the present and find real options for coping and healing.

Ultimately, my goal is to help clients bond with their inner child outside of sessions, that’s where the real transformation happens.

I know “inner child work” can sound trendy or overused these days, but there’s a lot of misunderstanding out there. The wounded inner child holds deep pain, grief, anxiety, emptiness, shame, and the core beliefs we absorb like “I’m not good enough,” “I don’t matter,” or “I’m unlovable.” But the inner child also holds joy, creativity, honesty, curiosity and freedom, the part of us that used to feel curious, playful, and unafraid to be ourselves.

Trauma dims that light. But when we reconnect with the child we once were, we begin to reclaim the parts of ourselves that were lost.

How have you seen unhealed inner childhood wounds affect and show up in adult relationships?

Inner child work is deeply rooted in grief work, it’s not the sweet, whimsical thing the media sometimes portrays it to be. The child we once were carries a lot of hurt: loneliness, pain, the desperate need to be seen and heard. Imagine enduring that isolation alone in your room, swallowed by shame and not knowing how to handle the flood of emotions. We suffocated and drowned in our own pain, without tools or support.

These unhealed wounds often show up most clearly in intimate relationships, friendships, and even at work. Common patterns include fear of abandonment or rejection, social anxiety, fear of commitment, difficulty trusting others, controlling behaviors, codependency, workaholism, perfectionism, over-caretaking, low self-esteem, and avoiding vulnerability. You might also see dissociation (zoning out or emotional numbing), addictions, repeating harmful family dynamics, difficulty setting or respecting boundaries, isolation, and avoiding true intimacy.

Other signs can include depression, anxiety, obsessive thinking, and frequent nightmares or night terrors. What I find especially important are present-day triggers. For example, feeling triggered by a boss’s tone, jealousy when a colleague gets a promotion, or rejection when a partner doesn’t text right away. These triggers are like trailheads, they are signposts pointing toward unresolved wounds and opportunities for healing. They tell us where to look deeper and do the inner work.

What’s your favorite question to ask clients that always gets them thinking more deeply?

That’s a great question! I actually have quite a few go-to questions, and I usually let the moment and the client guide which ones to use. But some of the questions that consistently open up deeper reflection are:

• Where does this take you back to in childhood?

• What do you notice in your body as you say or feel that?

• Let`s notice that resistance, let`s get curious.

• What do you gain and what do you lose with this behavior?

• What are you afraid will happen if this behavior stops?

• What are your deepest fears about this situation? Walk me through the worst case scenarios.

• What is different in this situation compared to the past?

• What is different in your life now?

• What brings you joy?

• What does this behavior mean to you?

• If you were your own best friend, what would you say to yourself right now?

• Imagine your 5-year-old self is sitting here with you, what would you want them to know?

• How does your teenager self want to be treated today?

If someone feels like they’re lost or broken, what’s the first step you’d invite them to take?

In moments like these, I deeply understand the pain and the struggle to find grounding. Many people tell me they feel broken or lost, carrying heavy feelings of emptiness, despair, helplessness, and hopelessness. The very first step I invite them to take is to seek support whether that’s professional help, a trusted community, or someone who can hold space for them. Healing doesn’t have to be a solo journey, and you are never truly alone, even when it feels that way. Reaching out is an act of courage and the beginning of finding your way back to yourself.

Conclusion

Healing from childhood wounds is not a quick fix, and it’s not always easy—but it is possible. By turning inward, reconnecting with your inner child, and seeking support when needed, you can break old patterns, reclaim your sense of self, and create the healthy, loving relationships you deserve. As Carolina reminds us, the journey is messy, sacred, and deeply personal—but every step along your inner path brings you closer to freedom, self-compassion, and the ability to show up fully in your life and relationships.

You can learn more about the inner path work that Carolina Bracco can help you with and learn about her services here:

Inner Path Website

To Schedule a Free Consultation Call with Carolina, click here:

Book a Free Consultation Call