Emotional Strength in a Demanding World
- Apr 7
- 2 min read
By Patricia Valencia LMHC, LPC
Owner of Patricia Valencia Mental Health Counseling, PLLC
In my work as a therapist specializing in Gen X mental health, emotional strength has come to represent the ability to recognize, articulate, and sit with emotions outside of sadness, happiness, fear, and anger, without dismissing the underlying emotions with a statement akin to “At least I” or “Other people have it worse than I do.” Emotional strength is the understanding that your feelings are on a spectrum, and it is okay to lean into the feelings that you have even the ones you deem messy. Emotional Strength is the ability to be vulnerable and experience yourself without judgment.
The word "boundaries" has become weaponized, akin to the misuse of "narcissist"; there are a lot of people who are being labeled narcissists who are just thinking and behaving like assholes without the unwavering belief in their perfection. Each person’s boundaries are unique to them and their experiences. A true boundary is an expressed emotional or physical need with an emotional and verbal contract between parties. The protection of one's mental health lies in the ability to thoughtfully articulate one's emotional and physical needs. If you are, or have done the work to explore, what your emotional and physical needs are, it will allow you to protect your mental health in relation to the world at large. This concept will look different for people with Severe and Persistent Mental Illness. The protection of your emotional health lies in your ability to recognize and articulate your truth.
There are some basics that help reduce stress due to the design of the human body, such as exercise and sleep.
The best practice to regulate stress consistently is rooted in the things, people, and activities that invoke a feeling of the release of positive energy. A burst of laughter, a long exhale, and the ability to focus on a task that you enjoy—one that does not hurt you or others physically, emotionally, or fiscally—can be beneficial.
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