Humans and animals all react to protect themselves from physical threat. We hide and defend ourselves and also buy insurance policies and safer cars.
Although I’ve worked in this field for years, I never thought about how we protect ourselves from emotional threat. That is until the day I realized how my need to protect myself from feeling an old emotional wound showed up in my everyday actions.
Then it hit me…
my desire to avoid the problem – is protection.
pretending it’s someone else’s issue – is protection.
running away from it all – is protection.
even humor can be protection.
I got it now – I believe you can do all kinds of things in an effort to protect yourself from feeling something that is painful.
And, if you’re working in a field where you have to be licensed to practice, like medicine and law, you can bet you protect yourself. Actually working with, and growing up with providers, I know an additional layer of protection comes with the job. But, that extra layer of “provider protection” can be complicated and without even knowing it it can separate you from yourself.
So maybe, when you’re feeling emotional pain, ask yourself what you might be protecting yourself from having to re-feel.