"The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook.” —William James

If you’ve ever been told “You’re in denial,” you’re most likely familiar with the sensation of having been shamed for your unwillingness to “face facts.” You may also have experienced the nagging thought, “And the problem with that is what?”

As a mental health professional, I blame the fields of psychology and psychotherapy for elevating denial to the level of the 8th deadly sin and adding the burden of guilt to those who practice the age-old art of avoiding pain.

As proposed by Sigmund Freud, denial is a defense mechanism seen as the refusal to acknowledge disturbing aspects of external reality, as well as the existence of disturbing psychological events, such as thoughts, memories, or feelings. It’s important to note that, according to Freud, defense mechanisms represent natural and

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