>#Don't deny your inner child the emotional recognition it never got in your childhood, traumatic or otherwise.

This! The quote is invalidating and painful to many people who have gone through trauma. Here's what I would say:

It would have been more soothing if it didn't try to soothe with "no reason to be afraid" (what if there is?), and to further justify it with "we have strong hands and feet now" (what if we don't, figuratively speaking? And what if being strong doesn't help?)

I would have no issue if it said something along these lines:

>"Dear inner child. I understand that you are afraid. And you know what, the thing you are afraid of is scary - it really is! We are still dealing with it today, even as a big, strong adult. No wonder you struggled so much back then!

>But you know what, the fight is different now. We have learned. We have more tools now. And while we still get afraid every now and then - it's OK! - we do not let that fear consume us and define us.

>Not because we have grown stronger - trauma doesn't bring strength. But because we have grown. There's more to us than just the wounded part.

>We are a tree that grew from a stump - so intricate that nobody sees that we were broken once until they get real close. Where the branches were cut, the sap still drips. And yet, we stand tall, a tree of a million leaves.

Here, take this. And be kind to yourself, y'all.