Voicing Your Emotions

Without getting too technical, but in the interest of the science involved, an MRI brain-imaging study by UCLA psychologists published in 2007 showed that when we talk about our emotions, it changes the way our brains process them. They discovered that unvoiced emotions trigger the chain of biological reactions associated with self-preservation. Putting feelings into words, by contrast, shifted activity to the part of the brain associated with thinking in words.In other words, while stifling your emotions results in the desire to run and hide, voicing them initiates the means of letting them go. In being mindful of your emotions, you begin to heal yourself.

That healing begins with listening, and listening is the most important part of psychotherapy. I’m here to listen to what you have to say, but more importantly, I’m here to help you learn to listen for your emotions, to hear the indicators that tell you something is wrong, and to recognize and address those feelings for yourself.