“INNER WORLDS”

Revised Edition - First Published as
‘Inner Worlds and Outer Challenges’

Dr Diana M. L. Birch

Inner Worlds – ISBN 1 870717 07 4

Part One – Inner Worlds confronts the question of how we develop personalities and discusses varying personality types

Part Two – Outer Challenges looks at how our personalities are affected by disability, violence, abuse, sexuality and assaults on self esteem.

It is an unfortunate aspect of our society that many children and young people are brought up in a world of abuse and violence. How can the result of this experience be minimised or turned to positive effect?

Why do some abused children become abusing parents, ... while some become 'victims'... and others become carers, protecting other children from similar harm?

If protective or determinant factors exist - can we use them, bring them into play in helping heal the wounds? Or is our path predestined by an inner immutable psychological structure? How can we influence the interplay between inner worlds and outer challenges?

These pages are a product of workshops held with teachers, social workers and other professional and lay people. Those of us who would work with young people have a double task, we need to understand ourselves before we can be of use to our patients. We must be in touch with the hurt child within ourselves so that child can communicate, empathise with another and help to heal their pain.

Part One - Inner Worlds - Confronts the question of how we develop personalities and discusses varying personality types.

Part Two - Outer Challenges - How our personalities are affected by disability, violence, abuse, sexuality, and assaults on self esteem.