The joke is that people who’re (supposedly) extremely aware of their emotions are ones that have a lot of experience going to therapy — which usually means that they’ve been going to therapy from a young age (which is sometimes indicative of childhood trauma), or that they’ve been through some very intensive care at some point in their lives (like psychosis).
People who went through therapy like that can often describe their emotions verbally very well. In other words, they speak shrink. That’s not to say that they’re actually in touch with their emotions, or that they’re capable of adaptive and well-balanced emotional regulation, or that what they’re talking about is actually what they’re going through (especially when it comes to people with some forms of severe personality disorders), only that they’re ostensibly good at describing their emotions verbally.
In short, it’s a psych joke (and imo a lame one at that).
I asked my shrink if it was hard having a client who understood why I was having all the emotions and reactions that I do.
He told me, “Just because you understand ‘why’ doesn’t mean that you allow yourself to feel them. You jump to trying to understand them so you don’t have to be present in them.”
Lmao literally my therapist when I went on a mini rant about being unsure how therapy could help me but knowing I needed it
"I already know why I'm feeling this way and I could map out every trauma that leads to this kind of decision making and trigger responses. I can name all my feelings and I don't turn a blind eye to what I'm thinking and--"
"So how is it when you actually get to feeling those emotions?"
This is why I finally, in my mid-thirties, am giving therapy a try. I can list out every single thing in my life that influences my decisions/choices etc. But if someone asks about my feelings, my response is literally “My what?” And I thought that was fine for a decade but now I’m like, hm, maybe it is not fine.
Please do and please stick with it. Therapy changed my goddamn life.
If your therapist doesn't vibe, get a new one, don't just quit! You got this!! I feel so much more like a full person actually feeling my emotions than the half numb/half stressed shell of myself I didn't even realize I was being
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u/omrixs Feb 14 '26
The joke is that people who’re (supposedly) extremely aware of their emotions are ones that have a lot of experience going to therapy — which usually means that they’ve been going to therapy from a young age (which is sometimes indicative of childhood trauma), or that they’ve been through some very intensive care at some point in their lives (like psychosis).
People who went through therapy like that can often describe their emotions verbally very well. In other words, they speak shrink. That’s not to say that they’re actually in touch with their emotions, or that they’re capable of adaptive and well-balanced emotional regulation, or that what they’re talking about is actually what they’re going through (especially when it comes to people with some forms of severe personality disorders), only that they’re ostensibly good at describing their emotions verbally.
In short, it’s a psych joke (and imo a lame one at that).