Psychology · Childhood Patterns

What's Your Core Childhood Wound?

A free test based on the five core wounds model — Rejection, Abandonment, Humiliation, Betrayal, and Injustice — to help you understand the patterns still shaping how you love, trust, and show up today.

Discover Your Wound →

25 questions · 4 minutes · No email required

The Five Core Wounds

Most people carry a blend — usually one or two that run the show.

R

Rejection

A fear of not being wanted, leading to self-erasure or shrinking to avoid being turned away.

A

Abandonment

A fear of being left, leading to anxious attachment or difficulty tolerating distance.

H

Humiliation

A fear of shame and judgment, leading to self-consciousness or over-responsibility for others' feelings.

B

Betrayal

A fear of being deceived or let down, leading to control, hypervigilance, or difficulty trusting.

I

Injustice

A fear of being treated unfairly or not measuring up, leading to rigidity, perfectionism, or emotional suppression.

About the inner child wound test

This test is based on the five core wounds model, a widely referenced framework in childhood development and attachment-informed psychology. The idea is simple: certain painful experiences from childhood — not necessarily major trauma, often just ordinary ruptures every child goes through — leave behind patterns that quietly shape how we relate to ourselves and others as adults. Most people carry a mix of more than one wound, usually with one or two that are more dominant.

Unlike a lot of "inner child" content that stays vague, your results give you a full percentage breakdown across all five wounds, plus a genuine, in-depth profile of your primary pattern — how it formed, how it shows up now, and a real path toward healing it.

Three steps to your result

1

Answer 25 questions

One question at a time, on a five-point scale from Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree. There are no right or wrong answers — only honest ones.

2

Get your wound profile

Scored across all five wounds — Rejection, Abandonment, Humiliation, Betrayal, and Injustice — to identify your primary and secondary patterns.

3

Explore what it means

Your results page goes beyond a label: how your wound shows up in relationships and at work, the protective pattern it created, and a genuine path toward healing it.

Discover Your Wound →

25 questions · 4 minutes · No email required

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the five core wounds model?
It's a framework describing five common patterns of childhood pain — Rejection, Abandonment, Humiliation, Betrayal, and Injustice — each of which tends to create a specific protective pattern that carries into adulthood, affecting relationships, self-worth, and how we respond to stress.
Do I have to have experienced serious trauma for this to apply to me?
No. These wounds form through ordinary childhood experiences — a parent who was often distracted, a sibling who was favored, a household where feelings weren't discussed — not just major or obvious trauma. Nearly everyone carries some version of at least one of these patterns.
Can I have more than one wound?
Yes, almost everyone does. This test shows your primary and secondary wound, since most people's patterns are a blend rather than a single clean category.
How long does the test take?
About 4 minutes — 25 questions, answered one at a time on a five-point scale.
Is this the same as childhood trauma?
Related, but not identical. Childhood trauma usually refers to more acute or severe experiences (abuse, neglect, major loss). Core wounds can form from those experiences, but far more often they form from smaller, cumulative ruptures that are part of ordinary childhood — which is part of why this framework resonates with so many people.
Can I retake the test later?
Yes — as you heal or as life circumstances shift, your dominant pattern can become less pronounced or shift toward another wound, so it's worth revisiting periodically.

Ready to understand your pattern?

25 questions. About 4 minutes. Completely private.

Discover Your Wound →