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The Role of Shadow Work in Personal Growth and Healing
Personal growth is a journey we often talk about in terms of goal-setting, positive habits, and self-care routines.
There’s another layer to personal growth that’s a bit more hidden — one that requires a deeper dive into parts of ourselves we might not even like to admit exist. Enter shadow work, a powerful tool that brings awareness to these hidden parts, helping us face our less lovable aspects and ultimately leading us toward healing, growth, and a fuller understanding of who we are.
If you’ve heard of shadow work but aren’t sure what it really means or how it can help, let’s dive into what it’s all about and why it’s one of the most transformative practices for personal growth.
What Is Shadow Work?
Shadow work is a concept that comes from the field of psychology, most notably pioneered by Carl Jung, a Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who believed that everyone has a “shadow self.” The “shadow” is essentially the parts of ourselves we’ve repressed, ignored, or denied. It’s everything we’ve decided is “unacceptable” about ourselves — anger, jealousy, shame, insecurity, selfishness, and so on.
