

Intellectualization: Thinking About Your Feelings Instead of Feeling Them
by Counseling and Wellness Center of PittsburghJuly 29, 2025 adult children of emotionally immature parents, avoiding emotions, childhood trauma, complex post traumatic stress disorder, complex trauma, Intellectualization, intellectualization defense mechanism, intellectualize, intellectualizing emotions0 comments
Intellectualization: Thinking About Your Feelings Instead of Feeling Them
I used to think I was really emotionally aware. When something upset me, I could explain exactly why it upset me, how it fit into a pattern, why my nervous system was responding the way it was. It all made perfect sense. And I thought this made me in touch with my emotions. Turns out I was...Learn More
The Slow Work of Feeling Suppressed Emotions
by Counseling and Wellness Center of PittsburghJuly 10, 2025 disassociate, disassociation, dorsal vagal shutdown, emotional numbness, fight flight freeze, flight or fight, freeze, freeze response, hyperarousal, hypoarousal, nervous system regulation, Parasympathetic nervous system, pendulation, peter levine, shutdown, somatic experiencing, somatic therapy, stress responses, suppressed emotions, sympathetic nervous system, titration, window of tolerance0 comments
The Slow Work of Feeling Suppressed Emotions
Working with emotions—especially when they’ve been buried, shut down, or hard to name—reminds me a lot of orthodontics. It’s not fast. It’s not flashy. But it’s real. You can’t force a tooth into place without risking damage. And you can’t force suppressed emotions into awareness without overwhelming the system....Learn More