Topic: relationships

Question: Why is it hard for me to express myself?
I don't know how to tell someone how I feel about them. How can I get better at expressing how I feel?

Answer (from Dr. Meredyth LawrynceServing Clients Nationwide):
I wanted to share these two short books (see below). You could also look into working on your throat chakra which deals with speaking your truth, self-expression,  being heard.  Communication Crunch High Impact Communication

Answer (from Sherry Katz, LCSWCouples and Family Therapist, LCSW):
"Practice makes perfect"!Simply by expressing yourself and listening to if others listen and understand you, then modifying your next try with whatever improvements you think of based on the impressions you feel others have of you, will progress your self-expression.Also, one way to lessen the tension before speaking to someone is to tell them you feel unsure on how best to express yourself.  This way you've prepared them to be patient with whatever words you do state.

Answer (from Marissa TalaricoSex and Relationship counseling ):
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Let's just start with being real. Expressing
yourself is vulnerable, and being vulnerable is hard. It takes courage and work
to be vulnerable. My guess is that you have been shown in your lifetime that
being vulnerable (ie, expressing yourself) is unsafe. My assumption would be
you have been criticized, or ignored when you have expressed yourself in the
past, it has taught your emotional self to simply not do it again. This is a normal
protective mechanism that you have used to cope with past feelings of hurt. It
will take time and work to engage again in an emotional way.I would start my practicing and
identifying how you feel to yourself. Check in with yourself multiple times a
day to gage where you are at emotionally. After you feel you have a good grasp
on this, start to engage in emotional conversations with others. Choose others that
feel safe to you, a good friend that knows you well, or a sibling or family
member. Expressing yourself is a behavior that you have suppressed out of
protection, so you can choose to engage in safe emotional expression behaviors
just the same. Best of luck!