What Is Shadow Work? A Beginner’s Guide to Healing the Hidden Self

A young woman stands against a pale wall with her eyes closed and hands over her ears. Behind her, a large shadow in the shape of clawed hands reaches toward her.

What Is Shadow Work?

Shadow work is the process of exploring the hidden, often unconscious parts of your psyche—the pieces you learned to suppress, deny, or disown. These parts don’t disappear. Instead, they live in the background, quietly shaping how you react, relate, and respond to the world.

The term "shadow" was popularized by Carl Jung, who described it as the aspects of ourselves that are incompatible with how we want to see ourselves. It’s not about being evil or broken—it’s about being human.

Defining the Shadow

The shadow is made up of traits, emotions, and desires we learned were "bad," "too much," or "not enough."

This can include:

• Rage or anger

• Deep sensitivity

• Neediness or desire for attention

• Ambition, competitiveness, or sexuality

  
  

These traits might have been rejected by your family, your culture, or your social environment. So you adapted. You tucked them away. You learned to survive by becoming who you were supposed to be.

But the shadow doesn’t stay quiet. It finds its way out through projection, reaction, and repetition.

3 Signs Your Shadow Is Running the Show

1. Overreactions

   If you’ve ever snapped at someone and instantly felt like, "Whoa, that was bigger than the situation," there’s a good chance an old, unprocessed wound was triggered. The shadow isn’t reacting to the moment. It’s reacting to what the moment represents.

2. Judgment & Projection

   The things that annoy you most in others are often the very traits you were taught to disown in yourself. That super loud person? Maybe you were told to be quiet. That person who takes up space? Maybe you learned to shrink.

3. Repeating Patterns

   If the same cycle keeps repeating—toxic relationships, self-sabotage, fear of success—chances are your shadow is behind it. These unconscious patterns will keep showing up until we acknowledge the part of us that created them.

   
   
   
   

How to Start Shadow Work

Shadow work doesn’t have to be scary. It can be loving, slow, and even beautiful. Here are three gentle ways to begin:

1. Notice Your Triggers

   Pay attention to what makes you irrationally angry, uncomfortable, or judgmental. These emotional flares are messages from the shadow.

2. Journal With Honesty

   Ask yourself: What part of me is being reflected back in this moment? Why does this trait bother me? Have I ever been told this part of me was unacceptable?

3. Show Yourself Compassion

   This work is tender. Don’t shame yourself for what you find. These parts of you formed to protect you. Now you get to offer them understanding instead of exile.

   
   

Try This Prompt: What’s one shadow pattern you’ve noticed in yourself?

If you’re not sure, think about what triggers you most in others. What do you judge harshly or avoid at all costs? Then ask yourself: Is there a version of this inside me?

Shadow work isn’t about becoming someone new. It’s about reclaiming who you were before you learned to hide.

You don’t have to fix the shadow. You just have to face it.

And that’s where the healing begins.

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Want to explore this deeper? Take the Goddess Archetype Quiz to discover what archetypal energy you carry—and what your shadow might be trying to show you.