Dr. Wayne Pernell says healing starts with admitting something is wrong, since denial shows up as physical symptoms. He suggests mirror work, journaling, and body awareness as ways to process emotions before you're ready for therapy.
Chapters
Sharing your story can look like a whole bunch of different things. But the first thing to do is admit that there's something going on. You know when something's going on and you can't pretend it's not going on? Like, that's not good. It's going to manifest in a bad way. I'll just show up as an illness or weird hives. Like I've been there. So what does this mean? Well, maybe you've never seen a counselor or a therapist and you feel ready to process those feelings and start to heal with the help of a professional. But if you're not ready for that, that's okay. Maybe you stand in front of a mirror and just say it out loud to yourself. Just like actually talk to yourself and get that story out. Maybe you pull out a pen and paper and you journal. No one ever has to see this. This isn't a public forum. Like, you do it for yourself. You write out your feelings. How are you feeling? Where do you feel in your body? What's going on, why it's so important? It's so important.