Not having the time, space, or opportunity to integrate emotional content means that one has only partially-digested beliefs that lack the nuance and shading that adults are capable of. These beliefs tend to be very "childish", meant in a non-judgmental way. When I talk to parts of myself or others who have been traumatized, I find beliefs like: * Daddy doesn't love me * Men/women don't love me * I'm no good * I'm bad * No one can love me * I only hurt people * I'm not good enough * Nobody likes me These are, of course, not the reasoned thoughts of a mature mind. These are the conclusions that a child would jump to based upon violent or irrational behavior from caregivers or the outside world. In addition to allowing emotional energy to be felt and processed, releasing it from the body, doing trauma work allows limiting beliefs and limited "maps" to be evaluated and rewritten for different life results as well. Processing emotion is as much a *thinking* process as it is a *feeling* process. But, it's less a process of "logically calculating" and more a process of gaining insight. There are exercises one can do to examine and unravel limiting beliefs, and the exercises I will give you will do the same thing: if you focus on *experiencing* sensations and emotions, beliefs around them will surface for clearing. If you focus on clearing thoughts and beliefs, the underlying *feelings* often manifest. They are a complex of undigested energy, which, after digestion, can result in a more subtle, refined, and clear understanding of life. Some say that "unprocessed emotions reinforce limiting beliefs". It would be more accurate to say that, "Undigested emotional content prevents beliefs from being examined and shifted". Emotional energy thus can seem like it holds beliefs in place, even when information or experience since the traumatic incident would seem to contradict them. [[What happens if we never process emotion]]