The idea of our wounded younger selves continuing to haunt us into adulthood was brought up years ago by many experts on the mind. So by now, the idea of an "inner child" should sound familiar.
Therapist Susan Anderson is more concerned with another part of us, the OUTER child.
She writes of the issues raised, and how to deal with them, in Taming Your Outer Child: Overcoming Self-Sabotage and Healing from Abandonment. Susan Anderson visited in 2015, and we revisit the interview here.