Inner Child Test: What It Measures and How to Read Your Score

This test explores the four facets of your inner child: the wounded child, the adapted child, the free child and the creative child. Each dimension reveals a part of you that was built during childhood and continues to shape your adult life. Recognising and welcoming these different parts is essential for your emotional balance. This test will help you identify which facet dominates and how to regain inner balance.

In the article that follows, I explore the inner child and unmet needs. If you recognise yourself in this theme, I designed an inner child test that helps you take stock of the state of your inner child. It comes with a guide to extend your reflection beyond the results. I also wrote two books on this subject, Our Archaic Wounds — The 5 Soul Wounds: Understanding Your Deep Schemas to Break Free and The Practical CBT Guide, if you would like to go further.

Take the test: Inner Child → — Wounded, adapted, free or creative child: discover which facet of your inner child dominates today.

What the Test Measures

• The part of you that carries the unresolved wounds, fears and suffering of childhood.
• The part of you that conformed to adults' expectations in order to survive and obtain love.
• The spontaneous, joyful and authentic part of you that expresses itself freely, without fear of judgement.
• The imaginative, curious and inventive part of you that sees the world with wonder.

How to Read Your Score

The result reads as an intensity, not as a diagnosis:

• Inner child in balance: Your inner child is broadly in balance. The wounded and adapted parts are not strongly dominant, leaving room for the free and creative parts.
• Inner child in transition: Your inner child is in a process of transformation. Some facets need more attention to regain a harmonious balance.
• Inner child in distress: Your inner child carries significant suffering. The wounded and adapted parts dominate, stifling the free and creative parts.
• Inner child in severe distress: Your inner child is in severe distress. Unhealed wounds and excessive adaptations dominate your functioning and require urgent attention.

What Your Full Report Contains

The detailed PDF report includes:

• Introduction: This report explores the four facets of your inner child. Each part reveals an aspect of your emotional functioning that is rooted in childhood. The aim is to better understand which parts are dominant and how to regain inner balance.
• Global Score: The report presents your overall score and guidance for interpreting it.
• Dimension-by-Dimension Analysis: Each facet of your inner child is analysed individually to give you a nuanced view of your inner balance.
• Recommendations: Four validated practices for reconnecting with the inner child: (1) Written dialogue — Lucia Capacchione suggests writing with your dominant hand (adult you) and answering with your non-dominant hand (inner child). This gives access to pre-verbal emotional layers. (2) Guided visualisations — mentally meeting your inner child at a specific age (5, 8, 12 years old) and offering them what they needed (safety, validation, affection). To be practised with a therapist if trauma is present. (3) Spontaneous pleasure activities — reintroducing into your adult life what felt good to your inner child (drawing, dancing, contact with nature, play). Bradshaw: "healing begins with joy". (4) Schema therapy or IFS — deep therapeutic work with a professional, particularly if the wounds are chronic. The inner child is not a regression — it is the integration of all your parts. If dark thoughts arise: 3114 (France, free, anonymous; elsewhere findahelpline.com).
• Resources: The concept of the inner child is central to humanistic psychotherapy and schema therapy. Founding frameworks: Carl Jung (archetype of the divine child), Eric Berne (transactional analysis, the Child ego state), John Bradshaw ("Homecoming: Reclaiming and Championing Your Inner Child", 1990), Charles Whitfield ("Healing the Child Within"). Modern approaches: Internal Family Systems (Richard Schwartz, IFS) — the "parts" model, including the exiled child; Jeffrey Young's schema therapy — Vulnerable Child / Happy Child / Angry Child modes. Recent work: Margaret Paul ("Inner Bonding"), Lucia Capacchione (non-dominant handwriting with the inner child). Neurobiological frameworks: Bessel van der Kolk (the body stores traumatic memories), Stephen Porges (polyvagal theory and autonomic states).

The first 5 questions are free; the full, personalised report (your precise score, your dimension profile, your recommendations) is paid.

When to Take This Test

• You recognise yourself in the inner child, healing and reparenting and want to see things clearly.
• You want a structured reading rather than a vague impression.
• You are looking for an objective starting point before talking to a professional if needed.

Take the test: Inner Child → — 63 questions, anonymous, PDF report.

FAQ

How long does the test take? 63 questions, about 10 min. The test has 63 questions. Does the test provide a diagnosis? No. It measures an intensity and provides reference points; only a professional can make a diagnosis. Are my answers confidential? Yes: the test is 100% anonymous and the report is delivered directly to you.

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👉 Start the Inner Child test → — 63 questions, immediate result, PDF report, 100% anonymous.