feature image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
About emotions and feelings
Emotions and feelings often get left out of conversations about mental health because our society emphasizes intellect over feelings. We tend to separate the body and mind. But we are gradually coming to see that both are inextricably linked.
Emotions and feelings reside in your body and are basic to survival. They are a separate information system, evolved over centuries. In fact, feelings and emotions were humankind’s first information system. Our thinking abilities developed much later on.
The work of psychotherapy is about integrating thoughts and feelings. Because Gestalt therapy is holistic, it is an approach highly suited for this task.
Too often in our culture, emotions are labeled as positive and negative.
This is not an approach I favor, because all our emotions were originally built-in to help us survive.
To me, emotions and feelings only become positive or negative based on the way we manage and express their energy.
Unexpressed and/or unacknowledged emotions ranging from joy and happiness to the more uncomfortable ones — anxiety, anger, sadness, grief, depression and the possible underlying trauma and abuse — influence how we move through the world. Each has an individual impact.
Get help with anger
“The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off.”
–Gloria Steinem
How do you deal with anger?
Eat it, bury it, explode with it—or something else?
Anger has deep roots in survival—it fuels fight or flight when facing danger. But how we handle it is shaped by family, culture, and social influences.
Some people explode, some hold it in until they burst. And others suppress it, causing mental, emotional, or physical strain.
Traditionally, men were taught anger was acceptable, while women were pressured to swallow it, transforming it into more acceptable emotions. While these influences shape how we experience anger, we can also learn to express it differently
CHOOSING HOW TO EXPRESS ANGER
Anger exists on a spectrum—from mild irritation to full rage. You can learn how to recognize and manage angry feelings.
Working with anger is often part of healing anxiety, trauma, addiction, or disordered eating. I use cognitive, emotional, somatic, cultural, and spiritual techniques, tailored to each person’s needs.
Get help with grief, loss, depression
“I never thought about songwriting as a weapon. I’ve only thought about it as a way to help me get through love and loss and sadness and loneliness and growing up.”
–Taylor Swift
How do you deal with loss?
Loss, in all its forms, is unavoidable. It can come suddenly or creep in slowly—through death, endings, disappointments, or even losing a version of ourselves we once knew.
Sadness and grief are natural responses, but when they linger, they can weigh us down.
Depression, unlike sadness, doesn’t always have an obvious cause. It seeps into daily life — dulling joy and making even small tasks feel impossible.
We all cope differently. Some feel grief deeply, while others push it aside, hoping it will fade.
Sometimes, we don’t even realize how much loss we carry until it shows up in unexpected ways—fatigue, irritability, disconnection, or physical pain. Or by a reliance on food, eating, or any other addictive process to get us through.
HEALING IS PERSONAL
Grief doesn’t follow a straight path, and neither does healing.
I work with clients to process sadness, grief, and depression in ways that make sense for them. Using cognitive, emotional, somatic, and spiritual approaches, I help uncover what needs to be expressed, understood, or let go.
Get help with relationships
image by Bob Dmyt from Pixabay
“Don’t settle for a relationship that won’t let you be yourself.“
–Oprah Winfrey
We are always in relationship, to someone, or something.
And these relationships – with ourselves and with others – can be a constant source of stress. Even with people we love.
Perhaps especially with people we love.
Learn how to build better connections with yourself and others and how to manage the stress that comes with the more challenging people you encounter.