If you notice the mechanism of denial and suppression, you’ll notice the ego uses it to hold on to secrets and private thoughts. You can smile, put on a happy face, have a stiff upper lip. You can maintain a facade of dignity and peace, and even have a pride about the surface level things. But if you have an inner churning, the thoughts surrounding that upset need to be expressed and released.
When you deny or suppress your thoughts, you delay the process of healing. Do not hide and protect what you think of as “unacceptable” thoughts, because these thoughts are not real. They are not who you are. Bring these thoughts to the light within you to be looked at, to be seen as unreal, and to be released.