When the Dark Days Come

How to get through your tough emotions

I am curious – how do you handle your dark days?

I went through my own this past weekend – maybe it was the January blahs, maybe it was exhaustion, or maybe it was the ongoing pressure of knowing that website traffic for my primary business decreased well before Christmas and I had no clue why. Or maybe it was caused by other personal matters preoccupying me. It’s hard to say which of these issues prompted my response. All I know is I entered a dark space that was hard to shake.

Part of my work as an emotion-focused therapist is to support clients in accessing their feelings. It may happen during the session, or it may be an exploration of their personal struggle dealing with painful emotions in between sessions. We talk, we tune in, we feel.

It is how I support others.

But you might wonder, what does the therapist do when she feels the darker, more painful, emotions?

Before I share how I dealt with them this past weekend, let’s first discuss what emotions actually are.

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