Emotional sobriety is something that all women in recovery should strive to achieve, regardless of what they are in recovery from. Quite simply, having emotional sobriety means having the ability to feel one's feelings.
It's so much easier said than done for those of us who have spent years trying to run from, avoid, or numb out our feelings. Yet, our personal recovery is dependent upon our emotional healing.
As Beverly Conyers notes in her book The Recovering Heart: Emotional Sobriety for Women, "Until we untangle the web of hurtful and damaging emotions that prevent us from seeing ourselves clearly, we will continue to suffer from our secret belief that something is wrong with us." Recognizing and then feeling the emotions that we have stored for so long takes great effort, and we don't have to do it alone. Importantly, there's no timeline or finish line for becoming emotionally sober.
It's our life's work. Wounded hearts do heal.