The brain is particularly receptive to change when emotion is being experienced. A negative example of this would be trauma. We all know that powerful, traumatic events can affect a person's future ability to regulate emotion, feel safe, and perhaps even connect with others. That is because strong emotion primes the brain for learning (as if the emotions signal that something important is going on, so the brain should "listen" and adapt accordingly).

A positive interaction with a psychologist, then, can be seen as the opposite of a traumatic event, as it can be a powerful, yet positive experience-one of being cared for. The process of being helped, seen, and accepted in places of pain can rewire the brain, allowing the mind to realize that emotions can be safe and that there is no need to "freak-out" in the face of them. This understanding increases one's ability to recover from difficult emotions, as well as relate to others in healthy ways. In case you ever wondered, this fact is why therapists are known for wanting clients to feel their feelings more fully.

Many people assume that the purpose of encouraging feeling is purely cathartic. But in fact, without the experience of emotion, the brain changes very little (for reasons I just described). Of course it changes some-when we learn a new piece of information, for instance, new neuronal connections must be made. But only when we allow the actual neural nets associated with our painful patterns to fire can they begin to rewire in new and integrated ways.