Have you ever experienced a torrent of awful feelings where you just can’t get beyond them? You’re being flooded by negative emotions, be it despair, hurt, anger, and you can’t seem to get your head above the water. Everything appears foggy and there’s a heavy weight anchoring you down.
A woman comes in filled with vengeful rage and despair – her husband wants out, he’s fallen for someone else.
A couple comes in beside themselves that their adult son relapsed into his heroin addiction.
A woman comes in grief-stricken over the sudden death of her husband, and guilt-ridden that they didn’t have a good marriage the last few years.
These are just a couple of examples of people trying to deal with overwhelming feelings of helplessness and despair.
Before any steps can be taken towards change, these strong and powerful emotions must be expressed. And sometimes that release can take quite a while. Until we can unload and get out from under the heaviness of the burden of these difficult feelings, we cannot move. We remain stuck; dead weight enveloped by darkness.
With rehashing, venting and repetition, sometimes guided and structured and sometimes free-flowing, client and counselor get to a point of buoyancy. It is then time to begin swimming. We start to stretch our arms towards something, one stroke at a time.
We’re ready to start to move- to take steps toward solutions, change and toward reshaping our lives. This only begins to happen when we can wipe away some of the gunk of emotions and we can begin to see a bit more clearly.
Unload, release, express – it’s good for the soul. Hopefully not only will we be able to step on up to what we need to do, but our steps will feel lighter as well.
Are you weighed down by any heavy and uncomfortable feelings? How do you relieve yourself of their heaviness?
I’m here to be that listener until you’re ready to start taking steps. And then we can step together.
Thanks for stopping by.
