Why Talking Works - The Processing Answer
A problem shared is a problem halved, isn’t that how the saying goes? When something is on your mind and you're struggling to figure out which direction to take, talking it through with someone often helps you find a way out of the dilemma. What appeared to be an obstacle shrinks when you have put it into words. Why? When we talk about something, we adapt our understanding of it. Talking about something out loud means we have to slow down and think about it differently rather than having thoughts racing around our mind. Speaking about something forces us to think things through so we understand things differently; we have processed them. Processing means understanding. We understand something about the circumstances and ourselves. Something happens, and we have to understand what happened and the effect it did or did not have on us. When a person has experienced a significant event, particularly a life change, they will have to process what happened or is still happening and