The Stages of Emotional Healing: Understanding the Journey
Emotional healing is an essential part of moving forward after experiencing pain, loss, or other difficult challenges. It’s not always a linear process, but rather a journey with stages of healing emotional pain that can help us heal, grow and find peace. Understanding more about the process can make it easier to navigate and can provide us with the tools that we need to embrace our healing and move forward.
Gareth Michael, an experienced spiritual coach and author, has dedicated years to helping individuals overcome emotional struggles and reclaim their sense of well-being. His compassionate and practical approach has guided many people through the process of healing emotionally.
In this blog, we’ll explore the 7 stages of healing emotionally, the questions to ask yourself before starting your healing process, and give you some practical steps to begin your journey. By understanding more about the healing process, you’ll gain insight into your own journey and be better equipped to navigate each stage.
The 7 stages of emotional healing
Emotional healing is important because pain and trauma can affect every part of our lives. Unprocessed emotions can manifest as anxiety, depression and unhealthy behaviors, which limits our ability to live a fulfilling life. Pain in various parts of the body, including the chest, stomach, neck and shoulders, back, or even the jaw, are often good indicators that we may have trauma stored in the body.
There are many types of pain that we may need to heal from, including traumatic experiences such as natural disasters, being in an emotionally abusive relationship where we may have suffered verbal abuse, or any other loss or grief that causes us pain. The journey to heal emotionally happens in stages, with each stage bringing different feelings and experiences as you work through your emotions.
So what are the stages of emotional healing? Whether you are healing from emotional abuse, healing from emotional trauma, or want to learn more about the emotional healing process, these 7 phases of emotional healing will help you understand what to expect at each stage of your healing.
Stage 1: Awareness
Awareness often begins with recognizing the deep impact of past experiences, particularly for those recovering from trauma. You may feel confusion, discomfort, or even numbness as you become aware of the emotions that need healing. While this stage can be challenging, it’s the first step toward understanding and addressing your feelings. Awareness also means understanding that creating a sense of safety for yourself is important.
Stage 2: Acceptance
In the acceptance stage, you come to terms with what you’re feeling and what you’ve experienced. You may feel sad, relieved or even frustrated as you stop trying to push your feelings away. Acceptance means making peace with the fact that healing will take time and that it’s okay to feel whatever you’re feeling. You will feel ready to move forward and begin the healing process.
If you're finding it challenging to accept and process your emotions, explore our step-by-step guide on how to let go of control to aid your journey.
Stage 3: Processing
Processing emotions can be challenging but it’s important for emotional healing and particularly for the stages of trauma recovery. You may experience emotional release, such as crying or frustration, as you start to make sense of what you’ve been through. This is a positive thing and may provide a sense of relief. Processing the effects of trauma may require professional guidance, such as therapy for post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Stage 4: Release
The release stage sees you letting go of negative emotions and attachments. You may feel relief, sadness, or freedom as you release past pain. It’s an important step toward healing, allowing you to move forward with a lighter, clearer mind. This stage moves you towards finding a place of emotional regulation. Gareth Michael speaks of this in his podcast Practical Spirituality: "It's the ability to feel emotion and then let it go."
Stage 5: Growth
During the growth stage, you’ll begin to see positive changes within yourself. You may feel more empowered, hopeful, and will have learnt coping skills that help you to find emotional strength. This stage is about learning from your past experiences and developing healthier patterns. You may feel a sense of progress as you begin to enjoy some of the positive changes that come with healing.
To further enhance your growth and emotional resilience, discover how to control your emotions effectively.
Stage 6: Integration
In this stage, you start to bring your healing into everyday life. Safety and stabilization is important and you may feel more balanced and confident as you apply what you’ve learned. Your healing becomes a part of who you are and you’ll find yourself more able to handle the challenges you face with more resilience.
Stage 7: Transformation
In this final stage, you’ve fully healed and experienced significant personal growth. As Gareth explains in one podcast episode, “Healing can lead to personal growth and new discoveries.” You may feel empowered, at peace, and ready to embrace a new life story. You can expect to feel more confident, open, and free as you move forward into this new chapter of your life.
Questions to ask yourself before you start healing
Before beginning your emotional healing journey, it’s important to take a step back and reflect on how you’re feeling in this moment, and which of your past experiences may be currently weighing on your mind. By understanding where you are now, you can gain clarity on whether it’s time to focus on your healing, and what steps you may need to take.
To reflect on your healing, try journaling, guided meditation, or mindfulness to connect with your emotions. Speaking to a trusted friend or mental health professional can provide fresh perspectives, while visualization helps you imagine your healed self. Pay attention to how your body feels and be compassionate to yourself along the way.
You might like to consider some of these questions to help begin your self-reflection:
How is not healing affecting your life?
What do you want your life to look like after you’ve healed?
If you woke up tomorrow, how would you know you had healed?
Are you ready to heal?
Are you willing to sit through some discomfort in service of healing?
What will help you on your emotional healing journey?
How has not yet healing served you?
What can you do to make your healing journey gentle for yourself?
What is feeling unresolved for me?
Is there something that I need to communicate to someone to move forward?
Is there a part of my experience that I have been denying?
What thoughts, feelings, and body sensations arise when I am feeling stuck?
Am I having unrealistic expectations for how quickly my healing process should go?
Do I need assistance in discovering how to move forward, especially after post traumatic stress?
Consider diving into the benefits of journaling to deepen your self-reflection and emotional awareness.
How to start your emotional healing journey
It can feel overwhelming knowing where to start with your emotional healing journey, but taking small steps can make the process feel more manageable. In this section, we’ll explore practical actions you can take right now to begin healing and improve your emotional wellbeing.
For those beginning their emotional healing journey, understanding the basics of mindfulness meditation can provide a solid foundation for personal growth.
Work on showing empathy towards yourself
Start by being kind to yourself. Recognize your feelings without judging them and allow yourself to feel your emotions. Remind yourself that healing takes time, and it’s okay to have good and bad days. Treat yourself with the same compassion you’d show a friend during tough times.
Need more guidance on how to practice self-kindness? Our guide on being gentle with yourself offers practical advice to nurture emotional well-being.
Acknowledge your feelings as they arise
Pay attention to your emotions, without ignoring them or pushing them away. Allow yourself to feel whatever is happening in the moment. Noticing and accepting your feelings is an important part of healing, as it helps you to understand what you are going through and process this.
If you're interested in exploring more ways to enhance your emotional self-awareness, learn what emotional self-awareness is and its impact on your healing journey.
Look for support in those around you
Reach out to trusted friends, family, or a therapist when you need support. Sharing your feelings with someone you trust can give you comfort, guidance, and a sense of connection. Having a support system is an important part of the healing journey.
Practice mindfulness often
Take time each day to be present and in the moment. Mindfulness helps you connect with your feelings without judging them, reduces stress, and helps you to feel clearer. Practices like deep breathing or paying attention to your surroundings can help you stay grounded during your healing.
Be patient
The healing process is a journey which takes time. Learn to celebrate small achievements, and accept that mistakes and setbacks are a part of the growth process. Learn to trust the process and embrace progress over perfection.
The signs that you’re starting to heal
Emotional healing is a gradual process and it can be easy to feel like you’re not seeing any progress. But recognizing the signs of healing can help you to appreciate how far you’ve come and can keep you motivated to keep going. Here are some signs that you’re on the path to healing:
Heightened self awareness
As your awareness increases, you might begin to notice and understand your emotions, triggers, and patterns of behavior. This will help you to feel more in tune with your needs and means that you’ll be able to start setting healthier boundaries, which will only increase your wellbeing.
Better relationships
As you heal emotionally, your interactions with others will start to feel more authentic and fulfilling, as you approach relationships from a more assured and calm place. You will communicate more openly and effectively, and be able to resolve conflicts in a healthier way.
Learn how to deepen connections and build healthy relationships with practical strategies.
More resiliency
The more you heal, the better you will be able to handle the challenges you face. You will find yourself becoming more resilient and able to bounce back more quickly when you do face challenges. When you encounter stressful situations, they will no longer overwhelm you in the same way that they once did.
Discover methods to enhance resilience and navigate life's challenges with greater ease.
Feeling healthier
You may start to notice improvements in your physical wellbeing, such as getting a better night’s sleep, having more energy in day-to-day life, or having a stronger immune system and getting less run down or sick. Greater emotional stability also leads to less tension being stored in your body and you may feel a sense of overall balance.
Things to remember on your path to emotional healing
The path to emotional healing can often feel overwhelming, but there are some key things to remember that will help guide you along the way. Healing is a process that requires patience and compassion, but if you are willing to embrace both the highs and the lows, healing can lead to great transformation.
If you're looking for additional guidance on healing, explore our complete guide to spiritual healing.
Reaching out to friends, family, or professionals along the way can provide you with the support and understanding you need. Healing isn’t something you have to do alone - connection is an important part of the process towards finding emotional balance.
It’s okay if you don’t have all the answers that you need when you are healing, and you can’t fix everything instantly. Offering yourself kindness and compassion is important, and acknowledging the effort you are putting into your healing will remind you that you are progressing, no matter how slow it might feel. Healing isn’t about finding quick solutions, but instead allowing yourself time to heal and grow.
It’s also important to know that you will still have bad days. Emotional healing doesn’t mean that you won’t experience pain, but instead in time you will learn how to navigate it better and become more resilient. Remembrance and mourning can be an important part of healing, particularly on tough days, and can provide you with the space to acknowledge and reflect on what you’re feeling.
Many people expect healing to go a certain way but the truth is, healing is never linear. There may be setbacks along the way, but these are a part of the healing process. Each step, no matter how big or small, will bring you closer to where you want to be. You are capable of healing, and this is just the beginning of your journey.
If you’re ready to dive deeper into the process of healing, check out this episode of the Practical Spirituality Podcast:
Here, Gareth offers valuable insights into emotional healing that will help guide you on your journey.
Practical Spirituality is also available on these platforms:
