11/05/2025
Many of us learned as children to keep our emotions inside, because they made the adults in our lives uncomfortable.
So, we learned to fear our emotions. Suppressing emotions is a fear response. If we don't feel them or say them, they can't hurt us or get us in trouble.
Suppressing emotions creates tension, which contributes to chronic pain & symptoms.
Venting our complaints and talking ABOUT our feelings can sometimes makes us feel even worse, because it focuses attention on our problems, without really getting our emotions out and giving them voice.
Emotional expression is NOT the same as venting.
Expressing emotions is speaking FROM the emotion, giving it a voice to say what it needs to say.
You don't have to speak the emotion aloud to the person you feel it toward. In fact, it's often best NOT to speak to someone you're upset with before you've let yourself express your feelings on your own. You're likely to say something you'll regret.
The best way to express our strongest emotions is to imagine speaking them in your imagination, to write them in a letter that is only for you to see, or to practice expressing emotions with a therapist trained in Emotional Awareness and Expression Therapy.
You can even act out your emotions in your imagination, if that is what is needed.
When you give voice to your emotions until they are truly complete, until they have said or done all they need to say or do, your body can relax and you might even feel compassion, or sadness.
The emotion has moved through you and you may feel something completely different now. You can express that, too.
It takes practice not to suppress or to vent, but to express our emotions fully.
If you need help learning how to do this safely and with emotional support, I can help! See link in my bio.
