When Dia Frampton was contemplating titles for her latest album, a friend suggested Bruises. The word immediately struck a chord with her.

A bruise, she notes, “Represents something that is hurting, but it’s covered by a thin layer of skin.

“It’s kind of that thing that you want to hide,” she continues. “That’s kind of how this past year felt to me, because nothing happened that was so crazy that I felt like I was broken, or cut open, or anything like that – in a metaphorical way, of course – but I did feel like I had accrued all of these tiny bruises that I had just constantly tried to cover up, and a new one would appear. It was a constant way of making me feel so unsure about myself.”

All of these emotions can be found on Bruises, which Frampton says, “Really represents the reality of what life is for me.”

“This is my favorite thing about being an artist,” she explains. “I feel like when you put on someone’s record, or watch someone’s movie, or read their book, what you’re really getting is their outlook on the world, and how they see the world, and Bruises is a very strong way of how I see the world. I see it in sections of light and dark, in good and bad, and every single day is different.”

Frampton continues, “I feel like every day I’ll have a win, or a loss, and it kind of goes in that circle, and it’s just about dealing with it, and that’s why the album really ends on a hopeful note, but for the most part the album is about wins and losses.”

Wins and losses are concepts everyone can relate to, just as everyone has experienced their own fair share of emotional bruises. Frampton spoke with us about some of the emotional bruises she’s had to deal with over the years, and the best ways she’s found to heal them.

Hop to the next page to read her 7 tips for healing emotional bruises.