WAVELENGTHS PSYCHOLOGY
  • Home
  • Children
    • About Child Therapy
    • ADHD and Children
  • Adolescents
    • About Teen Therapy
    • Anxiety and Teens
    • Depression and Teens
  • Adults
    • Therapy for Adults
    • Women Focused
  • Neurofeedback
  • Groups
    • Women
    • Young Adults
    • Teens
    • Divorce and Separation Group
  • Psychological Assessment
  • Providers
    • Providers at a glance
    • Sharon Grand, Ph.D.
    • Jayoti Chabra, LMSW
    • Bryan Johnson, LMSW
    • Melissa Laks, LMSW
    • Melissa Marconi, LMSW
    • Ginger Mencher, LCSW
    • Kayleigh Monahan, LMSW
    • Linda Montalbano, LPMHC
    • Andrea Panebianco, M.S.
    • Victoria Pitz, LPMHC
    • Caroline Rudin, LMSW, MS.Ed
    • Jessica Satkunasingham, LMSW
    • Amanda Snizek, LMSW
    • Rukiya Symister, M.A.
    • Eric Walter, Psy.D.
    • Janet Whyte, LMSW
    • Denise Wright, Ph.D., BCBA, LBA
    • Staff Login
  • Contact Us
  • Blog Posts
  • Employment Opportunities
    • Therapist Openings
    • Post-Doctoral Fellowship
    • Psychology Internships

Wavelengths Blog

Identifying and Processing Uncomfortable Emotions

5/10/2023

0 Comments

 
by Melissa Laks, LMSW
Picture
​Why should we identify our emotions
 
Identifying our emotions and learning to manage them is one of the most important skills we can have. Feelings are powerful and can become overwhelming at times. With time and practice, we get better at knowing what we are feeling and why. This skill is called emotional awareness. Emotional awareness helps us know what we need and want (or don't want).
 
For us to deal with uncomfortable emotions, it is helpful to know exactly what we’re feeling in the first place. For example, feeling a general sad is going to be experienced differently than if you are feeling lonely. So, comforting sadness would look different then comforting loneliness.
Picture
​Being able to identify our emotions not only helps us know what to do with them, but it also helps us communicate our feelings to others. This can help you feel more grounded and help others to help you.
 
Some people are naturally more in touch with their emotions than others. The good news is, anyone can be more aware of their emotions. It just takes practice.
Why should we process our emotions?
 
Processing emotions is about learning to understand, make sense, and deal with feelings in a healthy way.
 
Learning to process emotions takes time. To process emotions, we want to identify and label the feelings present, give ourselves the time and space to feel the feeling without judgement, then decide how we are  going to handle our feelings. This may involve deciding how you will resolve the problem if you have control over it, or how you will cope with it moving forward if you don’t have control over it. 
Picture
​We have subconscious ways of avoiding uncomfortable emotions. When we avoid or suppress our feelings, we may start to feel disconnected from ourselves. The longer this pattern of feel-ignore-repeat goes on, the more your repressed feelings will build on top of each other, and the more difficult it will be to cope with.
 
There are many ways to process our emotions, but all forms of emotional processing require mindfulness,  which allows you to recognize and feel your feelings without judging yourself for having them.
 
Spend a few minutes daily, sitting quietly and focusing on your body. Try to identify what you are feeling. Use a feelings list or chart to help you identify what you might be feeling. To be able to process emotions, you first need to identify the feelings and stay with them long enough to understand them. 
Picture
Start with:

Identifying your emotions and feelings:
  • What feelings do I have?
  • Where in my body am I feeling it?
  • Do I have any judgements on the thoughts/feeling I have?
  • Am I trying to suppress/move away from these feelings? Why?
 
Next:

Stay with the emotion you’re feeling at that moment in order to process them: (tolerating difficult emotions can be hard, remember feeling always come and go, take a deep breathe in, count to five and breathe out) ask yourself:
  • Is the feeling intolerable?
  • How bad is it on a scale 1-10?
 
Try to understand why you are having the current feeling:
  • Are there any needs that are unmet? (Do I feel disrespected, unheard, misunderstood)
  • Has a boundary been overstepped by someone?
  • Is this distress from a build-up of different events?
  • What is contributing to this distress?
  • Is this distress a result of me not accepting my feeling or judging it?

Picture
Finally:

​Address the emotion you are feeling. 
It’s not easy to know how to deal with an emotion or feeling. It may be helpful to talk to someone whose judgement you trust.

Some emotions are due to distorted thinking patterns, and we may need to try and re-frame our thinking in more helpful ways to release the feelings. Other times the feeling may be triggered by past events, boundaries being crossed, or needs being unmet.
 
There is no one approach that will work for everyone, so it may take some time to discover which style will work best for you. Some of the well-known ones are:
Picture
  • Psychodynamic therapy
  • CBT therapy (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy)
  • DBT therapy (Dialectical Behavioral Therapy)
  • EMDR therapy (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing)
  • Mindfulness Meditation
  • Self-Help Workbooks
  • Group Therapy
  • Creative outlets- including art, and writing. 

​Learning to manage emotions takes time and is difficult to do on your own. But once you really understand your emotions, and can process them effectively, you really can transform your life.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    August 2022

    Categories

    All
    ADHD
    Amanda Snizek
    Andrea Panebianco
    Anxiety
    Attention
    Body Mind
    Body-Mind
    Bryan Johnson
    Caroline Rudin
    Children
    Chonic Illness
    Dating
    Denise Wright
    Holidays
    Inspiration
    Janet Whyte
    Jayoti Chabra
    Jessica Satkunasingham
    Linda Montalbano
    Living Your Dreams
    Melissa Laks
    Melissa Marconi
    Mindfulness & Meditation
    Parenting
    Perinatal
    Postpartum
    Psychological Theory
    Rukiya Symister
    Self Care
    Sharon Grand
    Sleep
    Stress Management
    Therapy
    Trauma
    Victoria Pitz

Wavelengths Psychology 

4770 Sunrise Highway, Ste 105, Massapequa Park, NY 11762 /100 Hicksville Road, Ste 203, Massapequa, NY 11758/520 Franklin Avenue, Ste L-18C, Garden City, NY 11530

Good Faith Estimates
As of January 1, 2022,all healthcare providers are required to provide estimates for the cost of care for all clients not utilizing health insurance.  The Good Faith Estimate shows the cost of any items and services that are reasonably expected for your healthcare needs and treatment.  This will be provided by the office upon scheduling and/or as requested.  This Good Faith estimate does not include unexpected costs that could arise during treatment.  Learn more here.

Information contained on this website is intended for educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice or diagnosis. Nothing on this site is intended nor should be taken as a substitute for the advice provided by your physician or other qualified healthcare professional. You should not use the information on this website for self-diagnosing yourself- treating any health problem or disease, or self-prescribing any medication or other treatment.

  • Home
  • Children
    • About Child Therapy
    • ADHD and Children
  • Adolescents
    • About Teen Therapy
    • Anxiety and Teens
    • Depression and Teens
  • Adults
    • Therapy for Adults
    • Women Focused
  • Neurofeedback
  • Groups
    • Women
    • Young Adults
    • Teens
    • Divorce and Separation Group
  • Psychological Assessment
  • Providers
    • Providers at a glance
    • Sharon Grand, Ph.D.
    • Jayoti Chabra, LMSW
    • Bryan Johnson, LMSW
    • Melissa Laks, LMSW
    • Melissa Marconi, LMSW
    • Ginger Mencher, LCSW
    • Kayleigh Monahan, LMSW
    • Linda Montalbano, LPMHC
    • Andrea Panebianco, M.S.
    • Victoria Pitz, LPMHC
    • Caroline Rudin, LMSW, MS.Ed
    • Jessica Satkunasingham, LMSW
    • Amanda Snizek, LMSW
    • Rukiya Symister, M.A.
    • Eric Walter, Psy.D.
    • Janet Whyte, LMSW
    • Denise Wright, Ph.D., BCBA, LBA
    • Staff Login
  • Contact Us
  • Blog Posts
  • Employment Opportunities
    • Therapist Openings
    • Post-Doctoral Fellowship
    • Psychology Internships