Words Aren't Harmless. Words have power. Every one of us has a moment we can't forget - a teacher's harsh comment, a parent's painful statement, a cruel nickname from middle school, a text that cut deeper than we'd ever admit. Those moments leave marks. Psychologists will tell you that emotional pain registers in the brain much like physical pain. The sting of rejection lights up the same neural circuitry as a bruise. That means when someone says, "It's just words," they're missing something important: words can hurt. But pain and violence aren't identical. Pain can teach. Pain can shape us. Pain can be processed, forgiven, released. Violence, on the other hand, robs us of something precious - our security, our dignity, sometimes even our lives.