Benefits of Naming Feelings

Many of us know from experience that accurately naming our emotions feels good. It has a therapeutic effect.  This is not just our imagination. It has actually been successfully studied.

The limbic system is the part of our brain that we have in common with other mammals. It is responsible for basic emotions like fear, anger, pleasure, sadness, affection, and motivation. Our Left Pre Frontal Cortex interprets those feelings for us and tries to regulate them. Sometimes our limbic system emotions can be easily calmed that way. Other times it can be more difficult. Naming our feelings is one way to enhance its ability to calm those feelings.  Dr. Dan Siegel says that his colleagues at UCLA have been able to show that naming our emotions reduces the activity of the limbic system[i].

What we see in Scripture is that the Psalms describe bringing a very wide range of feelings to God. Walter Brueggemann, Old Testament theologian, says that “these Psalms make the important connection: everything must be brought to speech, and everything brought to speech must be addressed to God”[ii]  Further on, he says:

What we do know, both from the structure of the text and our own experience, is that grievance addressed to an authorized partner does free us. That is the insight behind Freud’s theory of talk-therapy, that we do not move beyond the repressed memory unless we speak it out loud to one with authority who hears. In our culture we have understood that in terms of one-on-one therapy. We still have to learn that this is true socially and liturgically. These psalms provide important materials for that learning[iii].

It’s important to process with God what we are feeling. More on this in future entries…

[i] Siegel, Daniel J. Mindsight : The New Science of Personal Transformation. Carlton North, Vic., Scribe Publications, 2010, p. 116.

[ii] Walter Brueggemann, Spirituality of the Psalms (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2001), 290-291.

[iii] Brueggemann, Spirituality of the Psalms, 379-383