How can I adequately express my emotion without shaming those I'm expressing them to?
11 Answers
Moderated by Danielle Johnson, MSED, Community mental Health Counseling, LMHC
Updated: Apr 11, 2022
APaletteFullofColors
on
Aug 17, 2021
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One possible way to express how you're feeling honestly without trying to shame the other person is to use "I" statements as opposed to "You" statements. What this means is that you explain how certain things affected you in the first person sense.
Some examples of "I" statements include:
- "I was hurt when (describe incident) happened."
- "I felt angry when (insert explanation)."
I can't guarantee that it will always work, but when you state things in the first person like that, it's hard for the other person to disqualify or invalidate your own reality and experience. If you start by saying things like "You made me feel this way," there's a good chance that it'll shut them to the conversation because they'll already be on the defensive mode. And again, since I don't know everything about your exact situation, I also don't know how the people in your life generally take things. But I do hope for the best as you try to honestly share your emotions with the people around you.
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