To you, who grew up in a hurry without ever realizing you were hurt inside. A clinical psychologist with 16 years of experience shares a unique path to healing and growth.

“Can I really get better?”

Most of the clients who come to Huean Mind Design Center have already visited multiple psychiatric clinics and counseling centers, arriving with the mindset that “this is my last stop.”

Here, they regain their inner peace and strength, and return to their families and workplaces. How is this possible?

This book fully presents a unique healing system, divided into three major parts:

Part One, “Finding Your Inner Child in the Maze of the Brain,” guides you to look back on your life through a “Painful Events Checklist” and an “Emotion Check-In.” Using “Words You Want to Say to Yourself” and an “Emotion Diary,” you will learn to understand true empathy and comfort your inner child.

Part Two, “Using Your Brain to Transform Trauma into Healing,” answers the question “How do I get better?” from a brain science perspective. It explains how to use the brain’s operating principles to regulate yourself in reverse, and how to heal through the subconscious.

Part Three, “From Darkness to Light: A 100-Day Transformation,” integrates the entire healing method. Through real-life case studies, it teaches you how to heal the wounds caused by family, school, and the workplace.

The first edition includes a limited appendix, “The Adult Emotion Diary,” with a 10-week (70-day) plan designed to guide you through emotional trauma in stages.

Open this book—change has already begun.

May you find your own light in the storms of life, and finally attain peace within.

★ A clinical psychologist with 16 years of experience integrates psychology, brain science, and medical hypnotherapy into a unique healing system. Dedicated to those who have been trapped alone in the dark, growing up without ever realizing they were hurt inside.

★ The Author’s Personal Experience Lends Credibility: Born highly sensitive and raised in a difficult family environment, author Kim Ha-sung’s psychological trauma eventually manifested as physical pain, to the point where he was taking the maximum dosage of psychiatric medication. He began studying psychology, medical hypnotherapy, and brain science to save himself—and succeeded. This lived experience gives the book’s healing methods exceptional persuasiveness and empathy.

★ An Original System Integrating Psychology, Brain Science, and Medical Hypnotherapy: The author combines knowledge from three fields to create a unique healing system that has helped thousands of clients repair their inner selves and return to normal life over 16 years.

★ The Complete Healing Process, Fully Disclosed: The author has poured the entire healing method developed from 16 years of research into this book, covering everything from the first consultation to the final session, accompanied by real-life case analyses.

★ Three Parts, Step by Step: From “Finding Your Inner Child” to “Transforming Trauma into Healing” to “A 100-Day Transformation,” the book has a clear structure that readers can follow and practice on their own.

★ Selected as a Recommended Book: Chosen as a Hankook Ilbo recommended book for the fourth week of February 2026.

“Because I have suffered, I understand all too well.”

A clinical psychologist who immersed himself in research to heal himself now brings you a self-healing guide based on brain science.

“I don’t even know why I feel so bad.” The people who come to counseling centers sharing their pain mostly cannot explain its source—yet they are deeply suffering.

Kim Ha-sung, director of the Huean Mind Design Center and author of the new book Growing Up Without Realizing You Were Hurt Inside, deeply empathizes with this kind of pain—because he has been there himself.

Born highly sensitive, Kim grew up in a difficult family environment, and his psychological trauma eventually turned into physical pain. Persistent pain of unknown origin led to insomnia, and he ended up taking the maximum dosage of psychiatric medication. At the end of his rope, he began studying psychology in an effort to save himself.

He sought counseling from multiple professors but was still not fundamentally healed. In search of more fundamental solutions, he traveled to the United States to study medical hypnotherapy. Yet even then, he still felt broken inside, so he continued to study brain science.

After years of persistence, he finally pulled himself back from the brink and returned to normal life.

He came to realize: only by facing past wounds head-on, delving deep into the heart, and reshaping the long-fixed negative structures of the neurons, can true change begin.

Based on this insight, he integrated psychology, brain science, and medical hypnotherapy into a unique healing system, helping thousands of clients repair their minds and return to daily life over the course of 16 years.

In the course of meeting clients, he noticed that many people do not even have the strength to walk through a counselor’s door. They remain alone in the dark, silently waiting for rescue. For this reason, he decided to write this book, sharing the complete healing method he has personally practiced with more people.

“I have written the entire therapeutic process I use with my clients into this book. Even if you never feel the need to visit a counseling center after reading it, that will be enough for me.”

May this sincere intention reach every reader.

Kim Ha-sung

Psychotherapist / Clinical Psychologist.
Director of the Huean Mind Design Center. His greatest joy is witnessing clients come back to life with renewed radiance.

Once crushed by life due to inner trauma, he began studying psychology to save himself, deepening his knowledge in medical hypnotherapy and brain science—and ultimately succeeded in healing himself.

Wanting to help more people suffering from psychological pain, he conducted one-on-one counseling and gradually built the Huean Mind Design Center into what it is today.

After meeting thousands of clients, he realized that even more people in need of help remain outside the doors of counseling institutions.

He has therefore poured the complete healing method he developed over 16 years of research into this book, dedicating it to those trapped alone in the dark.

Prologue: To You Who Don’t Know Why You Are Suffering
Words of Recommendation from Senior Students

Part One: Finding Your Inner Child in the Maze of the Brain
How Is Your Inner Child Doing?
Lesson 1: What Painful Experiences Have You Lived Through?
Identifying the Memories That Torment You
Threads Continuous from Childhood | Signs of Psychological Distress
Beyond Empathy, Reaching Resonance
Self-Resonance: The Three Stages of True Empathy | The Difference from Mere Self-Awareness
Drawing an Emotional Map to Find Your Inner Child
Why It Is Hard to Distinguish Your Inner Child from Yourself
Two Approaches When You Cannot Empathize

Lesson 2: Brain-Approved Methods of Emotional Regulation
What the Inner Child in the Mirror Wants to Hear
Language Techniques the Brain Can Receive
Cultivating the Habit of Self-Empathy: Keeping an Emotion Diary
The Five Steps of Emotion Diary Writing

Part Two: Using Your Brain to Transform Trauma into Healing
What Changes After Healing?
Lesson 3: Using the Brain’s Operating Mechanisms in Reverse
How We Have Been Using Our Brains Incorrectly All Along
Stimulus–Response Mode | Reversing the Stimulus–Response | Actively Choosing Positive Thinking
Real-Life Case Study: Panic Disorder
Tracing the Roots of Panic | Two Methods to Overcome Psychological Barriers | Is Self-Guidance Enough? | How Your Own Change Drives Change Around You | Reviewing Through Personal Experience
Real-Life Case Studies: Marital Relationships, OCD
Coming at the Brink of Divorce for a Final Try | Healing the Inner Child to Repair a Deteriorating Marriage | Subtle Shifts | Self-Healing
Common Questions About the Healing Process
I Feel Unworthy of Love.
I Shake Just Thinking About That Person.
What I Need to Relieve Right Now Doesn’t Seem Like Deep Trauma.
I Was Hurt by My Parents, But I‘m Fine Now.
Does Self-Healing Really Work?
I Can Never Seem to Regulate My Emotions.

Lesson 4: Methods for Achieving Long-Lasting Healing
Building an Attachment Relationship with Yourself
Your Own Version of Virtues: Kindness, Justice, Courtesy, Wisdom
The Three Elements of Healing: Thoughts, Inner Feelings, Body (Actions)
The Difference Between Thoughts and Inner Feelings | Body Management as Important as Inner Feelings | Thoughts, Inner Feelings, Body: Which Comes First? | Change Begins Here
Deep Healing: Brain-Approved Hypnotherapy
Subconscious Healing Using Brain Principles | The Principle of Healing Through REM Sleep | How to Enter the Subconscious
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