World Mental Health Day 2024

Why our emotions are important and how counselling can help us when we are faced with challenging emotions.

 As we approach World Mental Health Day, it gives us time to reflect on why we might want to engage in counselling and how it might help us. We might seek support because we are experiencing some difficult emotions that affect the way we think or feel about something that is important to us.

 So, what are emotions and how do they influence our lives.

 Emotions are simply the reactions we experience to the people, circumstances or events in our lives (Miller, 2023). They affect how we feel every day. They can influence how we act and interact with others, and can guide or shape the decisions, choices, and actions we make and take daily.

 Every day we experience a wide range of emotions depending on what is going on in our lives and all of us experience our emotions from our own unique point of view. We can feel an emotion in our body, for example, if we feel anxious, our palms might be sweaty, if we feel sad our heart might feel heavy. We can then express that emotion in some way, as a frown, as tears, or a gasp.

 Why is it important to pay attention to our emotions?

Our emotions help to make decisions and they can motivate us to act, but they also help us to understand others and allow others to understand us. It is this understanding that helps us to become close to the people we care about, to develop meaningful connections with people as we go through life. Understanding our emotions also enables us to communicate more effectively, both socially and emotionally. Emotions can also help us respond to cues of safety or danger, preparing us to act quickly if we feel unsafe.

Miller (2023) believes that if we are aware of our emotions and understand what underlies them, we can more easily move through life. We can feel less anxious and feel more grounded, resilient and regulated.

(Miller, 2023https://www.verywellmind.com/what-are-emotions-2795178https://www.verywellmind.com/what-are-emotions-2795178).

 How counselling can help us deal with our difficult or painful emotions.

There are times in life when our emotional experiences can be difficult to tolerate. As a result, we may need some help to make sense of what we are feeling, and to look at ways to help us deal with our emotions and feelings in a healthy way. Counselling can give us an opportunity to reflect on, examine or explore why an emotion or experience is causing us difficulty. It can help us gain clarity on what we are feeling and look at what might be underlying these feelings and emotions. With a therapist who can listen to our painful and deeply personal emotions with empathy and without judgement, we may also come to listen to ourselves with empathy and without judgement.

 Counselling is a process of change, but sometimes the change we would like is not necessarily the change that can happen (McCarthy, F., in conversation, 29/09/23). Through building a trusting relationship with a therapist, we can begin to recognise the unhelpful patterns or reactions we have developed in the face of life’s challenges, and perhaps give them context. While therapy cannot change the external circumstances in our lives, it can help us change how we relate to these circumstances. It gives us a chance to take a step back, to take a breath and gain a different perspective. Therapy can help us look at how we can make changes so that rather than be ruled or stifled by our challenges, we can not only survive, but grow and flourish from them.

 If you feel that speaking with a counsellor could help you, Knock Counselling Centre has a range of options that you could consider.

 Please contact the Centre on 094 937 5032 for further information.