3 Truths About Emotions That Most People Don't Know

"Yet emotions are the most vital signals our bodies send us, and the most vital information about our lives. What a juxtaposition. If we listen carefully, they can tell us exactly what our problems are and what the solutions can be. I believe that therapists would be in much lower demand if humans had higher emotional access, acumen, skills, and expression-better awareness and understanding, especially with vulnerable emotions in general."

"In my experience, personally and professionally, most of us were never taught how to effectively manage our emotions-not in school, not at work, not with our peers, and not in our families. We're told, especially men, to "calm down," "toughen up," or "don't cry" when a strong emotion arises, but rarely shown how to lean into emotions and what they're actually for."

Emotions serve as vital bodily signals and provide essential information about personal needs, relationships, and solutions. Societal emotion-phobia and cultural scripts like "calm down" and "don't cry" undermine emotional awareness, especially for men, and limit emotional learning across school, work, peers, and families. Suppression and repression of emotions increase suffering. Enhanced emotional access, acumen, expression, and vulnerability reduce distress and would lower demand for therapeutic services. Sharing emotions creates co-regulation or coburdening that lightens individual load. Peer-reviewed research and clinical work in emotionally focused therapy (EFT) and EMDR support counterintuitive truths about emotions and relational regulation.

Read at Psychology Today