Emotional Healing: A Way to Release Negative Energy

Emotional healing is a bit self-explanatory. It is simply the healing of emotions. One doesn’t need to do any research to know that emotional disorders plague much of the western world. Issues with depression and anxiety are increasingly common and that makes emotional healing more relevant than ever.

The general idea is that in order to reach a point of positive health, one needs to recognize their past negative experiences and traumas, accept they happened, then learn to “let go” of these experiences so they can no longer cause significant psychological, emotional, and physical damage to a person.

But there is a long way to go. The patient must typically traverse five stages of emotional healing in order to reach a state of comforting acceptance. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, in her 1969 book On Death and Dying, described this healing process as follows.

At first, individuals attempt to deny what happened, claiming that it could not have happened to them. Subsequently, they experience anger regarding the circumstances that have led to the traumatic event. Then, they attempt to negotiate with themselves or a higher power to undo the trauma, which results in a depressive state. Nevertheless, they ultimately attain a state of acceptance. The duration of this process varies considerably from one individual to another.

Then from this point on, patients can then focus on learning how to gain control over stress and their emotions to prevent further damage from negative emotional experiences.

Patients are also encouraged and taught how to protect themselves from the stressors and emotion-inducing experiences from the outside world. The key to emotional healing is accepting that emotions are caused from within the body as a reaction to stimuli, not directly from experiences themselves.

1. Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy, the most widely-practiced form of emotional healing, is considered commonplace in many Western countries. It’s just that people often apply a different label: psychotherapy. It is well-accepted that there is a direct link between emotions and mental health (and thus physical health) and psychology recognizes the positive effects of psychotherapy and cognitive-behavioral therapy and their ability to heal.

The general belief is that our thoughts and emotions are directly linked to our behaviors and by helping people break their negative thought patterns they can deal with negative emotions. It is used to treat emotional disorders such as depression and anxiety. Some psychologists are studying its effectiveness on other emotional disorders and discomforts.

Emotional healing is not just limited to the work of psychologists and psychotherapists. There are a wide range of therapists that can help a person find emotional healing. Some believe that the key to emotional healing can come from a few key processes. One is simply talking about their feelings. This is a major part of the aforementioned psychotherapy and can be administered by not just professionals, but friends and loved ones as well. The very act of talking about something can help in the process of accepting the past and its hurts, and to also come to terms with current stressors.

An important part of the emotional healing process is realizing that pain is an impermanent state. Sometimes a therapist or healer is needed to reach this realization. Mindfulness meditation can also help one achieve this state of mind. Unfortunately, it is a good idea to seek help from a trained meditation leader to learn the best methods to do this.

Some also believe that affirmations may help with emotional healing. Affirmations are a positive idea or sentence that patients are encouraged to repeat, write down, or continuously think about. Affirmations can come from within or be fed through inspirational speeches, lectures, videos, classes, or through mantra chanting in groups.

It is believed that by repeating an affirmation, it will become internalized and accepted. The general idea is that by focusing on a positive thought, it will have a positive effect on one’s emotions.

Another way that some believe can lead to emotional healing is by simply having fun. Social activities and the company of loved ones may have a positive effect on a person’s emotions. This can act as either a distraction from trauma and negative emotions or can reduce stress. Plus, having fun and laughing feels good.

Research has demonstrated that a positive physical contact, such as a hug, can have a beneficial effect on the body and mind. It can relieve pain, reduce anxiety, boost the immune system, calm the individual, and strengthen the connection to others. This is largely due to the cascade of hormones released when we are touched, including oxytocin, serotonin, and dopamine.

As a consequence, a novel addition to the self-care toolbox may be cuddling therapy, which aims to fulfill individuals’ need for physical contact in a strictly platonic manner. In our increasingly isolated world, there appears to be a growing demand for such professionals. In addition to the immediate benefits of touch, the effects linger beyond the present moment. As Mark Twain once said “I can live for two months on a good compliment.”, so a supportive hug from someone on Monday could have a positive impact on one’s well-being throughout the week.

Exercise is also thought to have a positive effect on one’s emotions, not only by reducing stress, but by working as an outlet onto which to focus one’s negative emotions.

Finally, there are many who believe that there are spiritual methods of emotional healing. These include consulting healers who can manipulate the energy of the body and balance the chakras.

For example, problems with the heart chakra can cause numerous emotional problems, so hiring a healer can help with these. Other alternative methods for emotional healing include acupressure and massage therapy, in addition to energy healing.

The link between our emotions and our physical health has been the focus of numerous studies over the years and most doctors seem to agree that negative emotions have a generally negative effect on our health. It is believed by many that our mental, emotional, physical health is inter-connected.

There is a significant connection between depression and chronic disease such as diabetes, stroke, and cancer. However, one should be wary because correlation does not always imply causation. People who suffer from depression are often shown to have a weaker immune system. Keep in mind that this may be the result of poor diet and lack of physical activity on the part of depression sufferers as well. People with depression and other mental disorders live statistically shorter lives than those who are mentally healthy (this is excluding the effects of suicide on the statistics).

Numerous studies show that stress has a detrimental effect on one’s health. Cortisol, one of the main stress hormones, is a proven immuno-supressor and can cause inflammation that can also lead to the eventual development of cancer. Therefore, one can argue that anything that reduces overall stress can have a generally positive effect on our health.

It has been reported that traumatic experiences in childhood such as abuse and neglect can have long-lasting effects on one’s mental and physical health. People who grow up carrying childhood trauma have been shown to engage in more risky behavior. They’ve also been shown to engage in various forms of self-medication such as drugs, alcohol, and cigarette smoking in an attempt to cope with the negative stress they still carry. These behaviors have a severely negative effect on one’s health.