Have you ever felt worried? And someone said, “Don’t worry about it”? Did that help?

Have you ever felt sad? And someone said, “Cheer up”? Did you cheer up?

If your answers were yes, yes, no—and yes, yes, no—then congratulations. You’re struggling with what we call in the psychology biz, being a human being.

Like every human I’ve ever met, you sometimes feel emotions that hurt. You probably also wrestle with cruel or critical thoughts. That’s not a flaw, it’s part of the deal.

And yet you’ve likely been made to feel like you’re doing something wrong when you feel sad or worried, or........

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