9 Ways To Take Care Of Emotional Wounds
There are situations that we have to go through that are especially hard for us. This causes us to accumulate great anguish and, sometimes, a mixture of emotions that we do not know how to handle. Fortunately, there are a number of ways to care for emotional wounds.
Here are ten ways to do it. Join us on this journey and discover what an emotional wound is and the various ways that exist to take care of them.
What is an emotional wound?
An emotional wound is the trace left on us by an experience that is uncomfortable or unpleasant for us. It usually makes us feel deep pain, but it can also generate disconcerting emotions such as fear or anger.
It is derived from situations that we experience that hurt us. We constantly relive these experiences, so it is essential that we forge paths of understanding and love and combat the great frustration that they can cause us.
There are all kinds of emotional wounds. To recognize them quickly, it is enough to remember those moments in which we felt that they were committing a great injustice to us, the episodes in which we felt abandoned, betrayed, guilty, humiliated, lost, broken …
9 ways to take care of emotional wounds
Emotional wounds can be healed, but the deepest ones often return to our lives on various occasions. That is the importance of taking care of them. We show you nine ways to do it and we explain what each of them consists of:
Self-knowledge
When we meet we know who we are, what we want and where we want to go or at least we approach it. This issue is key, because in this way we are able to recognize what is really causing us so much damage and then work on it.
In addition, if we know each other we know how we usually react to certain events, and we can use this as a way of learning to be more assertive in future situations.
On the other hand, when we meet we are closer to being authentic beings. This happens because we begin to leave behind the masks that we have and show ourselves as we truly are.
Accept emotional wounds as part of us
There are difficult moments to face in life and we must accept it in order to process it. Sometimes we don’t, either because we believe that we can handle everything and that it is unacceptable to feel sad, angry or guilty, or because we are not able to recognize the emotions that germinate in us.
Caring for emotional wounds also means accepting them. To get there, we must be close to our wounds, explore them and observe them carefully. Thus, we begin to allow emotions to flourish.
Expressing emotional wounds is taking care of them
It must be emphasized that no emotion is negative (all are necessary!), Therefore, it is important to express them. For this, it is important to connect with each one and let them flourish.
So how do you express emotional hurts? Giving way to the emotions that come to us when we relive the situations that are painful for us.
We could express emotional hurts through word, thought, or action. Through words, that is, by writing or telling someone or talking about the situation aloud to yourself; evoking the situation through thought; or doing various activities in order to express what we are feeling, for example, meditation.
Let it flow
Sometimes, we are not able to continue, because we want to control everything or because we stop living the “here and now”, and we dedicate ourselves to thinking a lot about the past or the future. This causes anxiety and depression to land strongly in our lives.
Therefore, it is important that we let it flow. It consists of not going against the current and rather letting things happen, without anticipating and without clinging to what happened, because we cannot control the future, nor what happened change.
Manage our emotions to take care of emotional wounds
Emotional management is the key and caring for emotional wounds is the lock. So, by being assertive with our emotions, we would be providing ourselves with greater well-being.
Being assertive with our emotions means using and communicating in the best way what we feel. To do this, we must learn from our past experiences and what we are, so that in the future we can act in a healthier way.
Managing our emotions does not mean that we cannot feel bad, but it does mean that we find the right time to express it. Now, do not blame yourself if at any time your emotions get out of your control, do not forget that you are a human being and mistakes are welcome for learning.
6. Resilience, key to caring for emotional wounds
Resilience is the ability to overcome adversity. Some of us can count on this ability and others don’t, the good thing is that we can cultivate it. To do it:
- Accept the change.
- Make optimism your best ally.
- Cultivate your sense of humor.
- Take care of your relationships.
- Dedicate yourself to activities that make you grow and feel good.
Also, we can find meaning in our lives. It is a wonderful legacy that Victos Frankl left us in his book “Man’s Search for Meaning . ” It consists of finding a meaning that generates satisfaction and encouragement, this will be different depending on the person.
Resilience is a great ally, because it helps us overcome painful circumstances. It does not mean that we forget about them, but it does mean that we carry on despite the great pain they could cause us.
Motivation
Sometimes it can be difficult to think about issues that motivate us. We give you some tips, which can generate really flattering results. Let’s see:
- Perform physical exercise. It is a way of caring for emotional wounds because doing so releases endorphins, neurotransmitters that generate a feeling of well-being.
- Art. Doing any type of art or going to see it can be beneficial, since it is a form of transformation of anguish, either because we capture them, because we identify with something or project it.
- Meditation. Well, it is a door to consciousness, which makes it easier for us to begin to see what happened to us from another perspective.
Now, any other activity that makes you feel good can be of great help. Sometimes, to take care of our emotional wounds, it is important to disconnect or see what causes us harm in another way, therefore, the development of some activity is favorable. Only you know which one is best for the moment you are going through.
Ask for help
Many times we find it difficult to accept that we cannot do everything, but we are not omnipotent. Part of caring for emotional wounds is recognizing that sometimes a helping hand is helpful. Even when we are the ones caring for someone else’s emotional wounds, it can happen that we don’t know how to act.
We can seek professional help to heal or care for emotional wounds. Well, constant care makes us feel better and, therefore, we have a better quality of life. Psychologists are wonderful because they are experts in the behaviors, thoughts and emotions of human beings, so they can help us to manage what hurts us so much or to promote or maintain healthy habits.
Empathy, essential to take care of emotional wounds
Let us remember that we are not unique. So while we can care for our emotional wounds, we can also care for others. To do this, we need to connect with them.
Empathy consists of putting ourselves in the shoes of the other, only then can we deeply understand what is happening to them, be in tune with them and look for the best alternatives that are in our hands to generate benefits.
Caring through empathy means giving the best of ourselves taking into account what the other feels and needs. It is to make compassion, assertiveness and understanding our essential skills, to give our neighbor our best care, acting as an emotional support.
Caring for emotional wounds is not easy, but it is possible. It is important that we are constant in it in our day to day, so that we feel better. Being attentive to ourselves and others is favorable to our quality of life.
Connect with the deepest part of you, be in tune with yourself, let life flow, be assertive with your emotions, do not be ashamed and ask for help when you consider it necessary, make empathy a tool to interact with the other, cultivate resilience, motivate yourself with the activities that you like the most, accept what has happened, spread your wings and take flight to take care of yourself and others.
