If you can’t acknowledge feelings that are tough to admit, you can’t have compassion for yourself. That’s a problem, because self-compassion helps you take action on your own behalf.

The most difficult emotions to deal with are the ones that feel uncomfortable to admit. So return to the prompts in this worksheet anytime you feel frozen by a tough feeling.

Download Now: Acknowledge Feelings That Are Tough To Admit

Take as little as 10 minutes to complete this worksheet by: 

  • Printing it, or
  • Writing your answers on a separate piece of paper, or
  • Typing your answers into Notes or a word document.

Who can this worksheet help, and how?

This worksheet is good for people who have experienced:

  • Anxiety
  • Overwhelm
  • Relationship struggles
  • Communication issues
  • Trauma
  • Boundary issues
  • Abuse
  • Loneliness
  • Financial anxiety
  • Panic
  • Social anxiety
  • Dissociation or zoning out

Need motivation?

“Because ignoring our feelings often leads to unhealthy behaviors — stress eating, drinking too much, shutting people out, or lashing out at people — it’s important to face them and understand them, even the ugly and uncomfortable ones.” – Krissy Brady

“What we learn in our society is not how to work with our emotions, but how to block and avoid them. We do it quite well: Between alcohol use, prescription drug use and screen time, there are a multitude of ways to avoid our feelings. When we do acknowledge them, we swat them away with mantras learned since childhood. (“Mind over matter,” “get a grip” and “suck it up” are familiar ones.) Thwarting emotions is not good for mental or physical health. It’s like pressing on the gas and brakes of your car at the same time, creating an internal pressure cooker.” – Hilary Jacobs Hendel, LCSW

“It is totally normal to have urges to avoid difficult or painful feelings as they arise. But every time we give in to these urges, we are reinforcing avoidance patterns (& they eventually become automatic) & giving more power to difficult feelings than they deserve.” – Dennis Tirch, PhD

Download Now: Acknowledge Feelings That Are Tough To Admit

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