
{"id":40266,"date":"2019-06-26T06:00:24","date_gmt":"2019-06-26T13:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/?p=40266"},"modified":"2019-07-16T13:56:07","modified_gmt":"2019-07-16T20:56:07","slug":"4-steps-to-break-free-from-fear-and-jump-start-emotional-healing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/4-steps-to-break-free-from-fear-and-jump-start-emotional-healing-0626194","title":{"rendered":"4 Steps to Break Free from Fear and Jump-Start Emotional Healing"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-40271\" src=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/woman-holding-lantern-at-night-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/woman-holding-lantern-at-night-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/woman-holding-lantern-at-night-800x533.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/woman-holding-lantern-at-night.jpg 939w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>Fear is something all of us have experienced at some point in our lives. Everyone is scared of something. In fact, there are so many times when fear keeps us from doing what we want. At times, it\u2019s a fear of what others might think. And at other times, it can be a fear of something that we are not willing to face.<\/p>\n<p>There is nothing wrong with being scared; as humans, feeling scared is natural.<\/p>\n<p>Fear is the body\u2019s natural response to a stimulus. A stimulus can be anything that your mind perceives as a threat. Your body prepares itself to deal with fear by activating <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/psychpedia\/fight-or-flight\">fight-or-flight<\/a> response. No matter how much you deny fear, it is part of your survival kit. It is inevitable.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"popout-quote-right\" style=\"font-weight: bold; width: 30%; float: right;\">Fear is not just a feeling, but a form of energy. Any energy that is accumulated will require an outlet at some point.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>4 Steps to Breaking Free from Fear<\/h2>\n<h3>1. Face your fears<\/h3>\n<p>If you do not address your fears, they can accumulate with time. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/learn-about-therapy\/issues\/fear\">Fear<\/a> is not just a feeling, but a form of energy. Any energy that is accumulated will require an outlet at some point. No energy can be contained for too long. When you don\u2019t allow fear to get released, it starts expressing itself as struggle and pain.<\/p>\n<p>In order to liberate yourself from your fears, you may need to put in some effort. It is not easy, but it is not impossible either. It is essential to liberate yourself from the fears that are holding you back.<\/p>\n<h3>2. Acknowledge your fears<\/h3>\n<p>Most people like to pretend that nothing happened after a frightful experience. They think that by trying to forget or ignore the fact that they felt scared, the fear will disappear. In reality, this is not the case. Whenever you feel sacred, you should acknowledge the emotion and face it. Instead of running away, you should tell yourself that it is okay to experience fear.<\/p>\n<h3>3. Communicate with your fears<\/h3>\n<p>Whenever you experience fear, learn to communicate with it. Seek to understand what your fear is trying to tell you. In order to communicate with your fear, first observe where exactly the fearful energy has accumulated in your body. Sometimes you may feel tightness in your heart, an uneasy feeling in your stomach, or tension in your limbs. Once you are successful in finding the crux of this energy, you can then communicate with it.<\/p>\n<p>Ask questions like:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>What is my fear trying to tell me?<\/li>\n<li>What does it want me to do to support its release?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>A dialogue with your fear can reveal some useful and important pieces of information. You will be able to understand the origin of fear and how to make yourself feel safe.<\/p>\n<h3>4. Find a way to release fear<\/h3>\n<p>A duck flutters its wings intensely after a quarrel to release the energy of fear. Similarly, you can find ways that help you release negative energy. It can be crying, screaming, shouting, or any vigorous physical movement.<\/p>\n<p>Focus on the part of the body where you feel fear has accumulated and understand what kind of movement your body wants. Once you understand, all you need to do is surrender to the movement, amplify it, and repeat until it comes to an end.<\/p>\n<h2>4 Tips for Emotional Healing<\/h2>\n<p>Most people today may deal with damaged <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/psychpedia\/emotion\">emotions<\/a>. Many have been through one thing or another that has left them emotionally devastated. In some cases, people suffer so much that they\u2019re scared if they open up about it, others might see them differently. Some people are scared their emotions will be misjudged. Others are scared that they won\u2019t be able to live up to what is expected of them.<\/p>\n<p>In order to start healing yourself emotionally and liberate yourself from your fears, follow the tips below:<\/p>\n<h3>1. Be yourself<\/h3>\n<p>It&#8217;s important to be yourself and be able to do what you like without being afraid of what anyone thinks. Be your own first priority, and try not to let others tell you how you should be.<\/p>\n<h3>2. Invent yourself<\/h3>\n<p>All of us mold ourselves according to the environment we live in. Give yourself a break and think about how you can reduce the emotional distress you&#8217;re feeling. Become a person you think can handle the distress better. Invent yourself with characteristics that were missing earlier.<\/p>\n<h3>3. Love and be loved<\/h3>\n<p>It is essential to love yourself and allow yourself to be loved. Try not to look down on yourself. You should feel worthy of love, your own and others&#8217;.<\/p>\n<h3>4. Flip the anxiety switch off<\/h3>\n<p>Promise yourself you will continue to work on addressing fears that contribute to unwanted <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/learn-about-therapy\/issues\/worry\">worry<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/learn-about-therapy\/issues\/anxiety\">anxiety<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>It can take much emotional strength to liberate yourself from fear. Facing and fighting fear can require courage, which can often come with the ability to emotionally regulate. For support as you work to build courage or face your fears, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/find-therapist.html\">reach out to a trained and empathetic mental health professional in your area<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When fear threatens to overwhelm you, remember these four steps. Then, use four more tips for emotional healing to rein in the impacts and effects of fear.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3026,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[542,623],"tags":[183,390,1138,25],"class_list":["post-40266","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-featured-articles","category-issues-treated","tag-anxiety","tag-fear","tag-healing","tag-psychotherapy-issues"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40266","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3026"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40266"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40266\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}