Book Review: Untangle Your Emotions by Jennie Allen

Untangle Your Emotions: Naming What You Feel and Knowing What to Do about It by Jennie Allen landed in my to-be-read pile when it was discounted to 2.99 a few months ago. It was on my radar because I want us all to be healthy and emotions have a ton to do with be healthy.

Overview

Jennie presents the topic in a very non-fiction style, laying out the importance of emotions and what they do. Her premise is that emotions are what help us connect; connecting to God and to one another is the refrain of the book. She first addresses the issue, why we are tangled up. Then she sets out four steps to untangle ourselves from this mess. She closes with facing forward in our emotions.

There is a balance of personal stories and family or friend stories, as well as the inclusion of individual’s short personal anecdotes. These do a good job of illustrating the points; however, it may have been more meaningful to have the family members (especially her husband) write parts of the book to get their perspective rather than hers about their issue(s). Bible verses are mentioned with no particular emphasis. However, there was a strong case made that God emotes and we were made in his image, including with emotions that are not inherently sinful.

Helpful Process

Jennie presents four steps to untangle our emotions: notice, name, feel, share, choose. Each of these have a dedicated chapter and illustrations which is helpful. I just couldn't help but ask where this process came from. The author does not claim to be a counselor, and indeed states a few times that professional help, “paid friends”, may be helpful for some people. So, it would be nice to have said, “this worked for me, and I think you should try it” rather than presenting this as research and sharing. It just felt awkward to me.

That said, the process sounds reasonable and helpful for growing in God and with others. In my counseling coursework, we discussed how the theories and methods we studied needed to be placed through the filter of the Bible. This book passes the test, in that it does not contradict the Bible. So, by all means we should learn how to do so. It is underdiscussed in our circles, maybe in our time. The crisis of mental health was mentioned a number of times and untangling our emotions in community can be one way to make a safe place to share all that stuff inside.

Well Needed Book, 4.5 stars

I think more resources like this, that offer practical steps toward a healthier spiritual and personal life, are needed. This one sagged a bit in the beginning and the end, but the meat in the middle made it worthwhile. 4.5 stars as it is a needed book with several key messages believers need to hear.