The feeling of guilt is one of the most destructive problems that can poison and destroy the harmony of a person's inner world. Many people carry it in themselves for years, not realizing to what extent it poisons their lives, affects relationships with others and personal development. And if this "monster" settles in the soul for many years, physical health may also be shaken. In short, it is necessary to get rid of the feeling of guilt, and the sooner the better.
If you are a believer, then religion will help you to do this. Confession, prayers and deeds to atone for your guilt will help you get rid of this feeling and find peace in your soul. In addition, sincere faith in the merciful Creator's forgiveness will support and encourage you. If you are far from the church, you can turn to a specialist psychologist who will help you find effective ways to get rid of this burden and move on.
But you can try and independently cope with feelings of guilt, especially since there is an effective method for this. Choose a time when you can calmly work with the problem, make sure that no one or nothing distracts you during the auto therapy session.
Take a piece of paper and describe a situation in which you feel guilty. Do not assess yourself or your actions, just state the facts in detail and fully. Of course, you can use a computer and type a text, but it's better to do it the old fashioned way, by hand. Psychologists say that writing activates other areas of the brain than typing on the keyboard. By writing down events by hand, a person is more focused both on the writing process and on their own thoughts.
So, the facts are outlined. Now try to formulate the reasons that prompted you to do this. The more reasons you find, the better. Try to answer yourself the questions "Why did I do this?", "What did you want to achieve as a result?"
The next step is to find excuses for yourself and your actions. This is a rather pleasant process, because everyone wants to prove to himself and others that he is not guilty of anything.
Try to make excuses in such a way as not to shift the blame onto others. So, the wording "he deceived me" is better to replace "I did not have enough experience and insight to recognize his true intentions."
Destroy your records. You can burn them and scatter the ashes in the wind, tear the leaf into small pieces and flush them down the toilet. In short, come up with the most suitable way for you to get rid of this piece of paper, and at the same time imagine that you are getting rid of everything that is stated on it.
Sometimes this ritual is not enough. Then the story needs to be told. It is advisable to do this so that your story does not become the property of people close to you or other participants in the event. Pour your heart out to a random fellow traveler, call the helpline, post an anonymous post on the Internet, talk with a priest.
Having told about your unseemly deed, you seem to perform an act of repentance "before God and people."
Find a way to atone for your wrongdoing. It can be a good done to a complete stranger, an act of charity, or simply a story written “for the edification of others” about your mistake. It is important that in your mind good and bad deeds are balanced.
Write a story in which, under similar circumstances, the event that made you feel guilty did not happen, and the whole situation was successfully resolved to the delight of everyone involved. Write in the first person as if this particular event happened to you. To some, this part of the methodology may seem insignificant and even stupid: after all, the past cannot be changed. However, this is not quite true. You can change your perception of events in the past. Reread this story whenever you are ready to start regretting and blaming yourself again, and the subconscious will eventually “believe” that the traumatic event simply never happened.
