Therapy Helps You Feel Your Feelings, Not Master Them
Briefly

Perfectionists often resort to therapy, seeking emotional mastery while simultaneously suppressing their feelings. There is a misconception that stoicism and psychotherapy aim for emotional suppression, when in reality, they promote harmony between reason and emotions. Many seek cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) believing it will help them blunt their emotions, viewing emotions as obstacles to joy derived from success. Effective therapy balances mastery of emotions with humility, acknowledging that many individuals are already adept at emotional suppression, which contradicts their desire for emotional engagement.
Psychoanalyst Nancy McWilliams wrote, "People with personalities organized around thinking and doing abound in Western societies. The idealization of reason and the faith in progress through human action that were hallmarks of Enlightenment thinking still permeate our collective psychology..."
Perfectionistic patients often seek cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) believing it provides guidance to blunt emotions. Emotions are viewed as barriers to true joy, which relies on success.
Read at Psychology Today
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