I think that the inner child was first brought to light by Carl Gustav Jung and people like John Bradshaw have explained its meaning and role so profoundly especially as it applies to addiction. I have come to understand the inner child as our true self especially as it is contrasted with the false self that because of abuse and disfunction has caused us to create a false self to present to the world in order to survive. To recover we must go through the pain and be honest with our feelings and do the work to recover our true identity.