Verulam-born author, metaphysicist and transformational catalyst, Gaishrie Sharon Singh will launch her latest book – The Wounded Inner Child: The Hidden Patterns That Shape Your Life and How to Change Them, at the Durban International Book Fair, taking place from August 6 to 10 at the Umhlanga Apart Hotel in Durban.

The official launch will be held on August 9 from 1:30pm to 2:30pm as part of the literary festival, where readers will have the opportunity to engage with Singh and learn more about her latest work.

Featuring a foreword by psychologist, Dr Stanley Arumugam, the book explores why many people continue repeating emotional and behavioural patterns well into adulthood, even after recognising that those patterns no longer serve them.

Rather than viewing these behaviours as personal flaws, Singh encourages readers to see them as coping mechanisms developed during childhood in response to their emotional environments.

“Many of the patterns we judge most harshly in ourselves did not begin as failures. They began as ways of adapting to the emotional environments in which we grew up. Understanding where they came from allows us to begin responding differently,” said Singh.

The book examines how early life experiences can influence adult relationships, self-worth, emotional boundaries, fear of rejection, people-pleasing, perfectionism, overthinking, and emotional withdrawal. It also explores the gap between understanding these patterns and creating lasting change.

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Spanning 31 chapters, The Wounded Inner Child delves into childhood emotional wounds, identity, attachment, emotional memory and the body’s role in storing experiences.

It also includes real-life case studies and a companion reflection guide titled Returning to Yourself, which offers readers structured exercises to help identify and better understand their own behavioural patterns.

Although written in accessible language for a general audience, the book draws on established psychological research, acknowledging the contributions of renowned thinkers including Carl Gustav Jung, John Bowlby, Donald Winnicott, Alice Miller, Bessel van der Kolk, Gabor Maté, and Daniel J Siegel.

For Singh, the book reflects more than three decades of working with individuals seeking greater emotional awareness and personal transformation, while also drawing on her own lived experiences.

“This is not a book about blame. It is a book about understanding. When we begin to recognise that many of our adult reactions carry a history, we can stop judging ourselves only by what we do and begin understanding why certain responses developed in the first place,” she said.

Born and raised in Verulam, Singh is an author, poet, philosophical thinker and transformational catalyst whose work focuses on emotional awareness, personal growth and human potential. She is also the author of Pain to Power to Purpose and Embers of the Soul.

Her latest publication is the culmination of an intensive writing journey that began in October 2025 and developed through months of research, reflection and refinement.

At its heart, The Wounded Inner Child conveys the message that while childhood experiences may shape people, they do not have to determine their future.

The book closes with a reflection that captures its central theme: ‘The journey was never about finding the child you once were. It was about becoming the adult your younger self always needed.’

The launch of The Wounded Inner Child: The Hidden Patterns That Shape Your Life and How to Change Them will take place on August 9 from 1:30pm to 2:30pm at the Umhlanga Apart Hotel during the Durban International Book Fair 2026.