“How are you feeling?”
“I’m fine.”
Have you ever been asked “how are you feeling?”, and your instant answer is “I’m fine”, or “good”? Mothers in particular are well-known for this.
Maybe it’s because you really are ok. Or maybe it’s because you have no idea how you actually feel but you just know you feel bad.
Emotions don’t just go away, and they can’t be buried and forgotten, even if you don’t know exactly what they are.
In order to deal with them you need to know what they are. Identifying is often easier said than done, so how do you do it?
How do you identify your emotions?
Identifying your true, authentic feelings takes practice. Once you have done that the process to deal with them can unfold.
Below is a tool that I like to work with, both personally and professionally. It works to help us decipher our emotions so that we can move forward. Staring with a vague, general feeling, then working down to a deeper emotion that could be facilitating or driving our thoughts and behaviours.
For example, a general feeling of overwhelm is often driven from a place of fear. Or dissmissive behaviours may derive from feelings of anger. Once that is identified you can begin to unravel that fear or anger and put strategies and tools in place to work through it.
If you’re feeling something, but not quite sure what that something is, take a look at the emotion wheel above to see if you can get some calrity as to what’s going happening for you. If you need some support with this or the emotions that you uncover, safe non-judgemental counselling is available to help you navigate your way to overcoming these feelings and moving forward. Contact me for a phone chat or to book a time to come in.
Fiona x
My name is Fiona Rogerson and I am an ACA accredited perinatal and Perth women’s counsellor, and Hypnobirthing (Mongan Method) Practitioner. I work with women and men to overcome emotional and psychological hurdles surrounding conception, pregnancy, postpartum, parenting and identity. I am also available to provide professional development training and workshops to various organisations. I am based south of the river in Perth and can be contacted by email at fiona@fionarogerson.com.au or phone 0402 017 425 or via my contact page.