Have you ever found yourself feeling sad or angry and unsure why or when it began? How many people are anxious, conflict-avoidant, or depressed? For some people, “big” feelings of anger, sadness, and frustration can be overwhelming and their first response is to try to squelch or outrun them. What happens when we do? We may eat too much, drink too much, or find ourselves sad, angry, or depressed. We may develop physical ailments like back problems, ulcers, or insomnia. How we express our emotions and the ease with which we do so is largely determined by how we were responded to by our parents when we were young.  When you cried or expressed anger, did your parents respond empathetically, or did they ignore, censor, or try to distract you from your feelings? Were some feelings permissible and others not? Were you allowed to express yourself for a certain amount of time, but once the clock ran out, you’d hear some version of, “That’s enough!”? As Daniel Goleman points out in his book, Emotional Intelligence “… entire ranges of emotion can begin to be obliterated from the repertoire for intimate relations, especially if through childhood those feelings continue to be [...]