stuck inside myself

When I was younger, and highly interested in psychology, I thought being either a clinical psychologist or a sports psychologist would be the most amazing-est of jobs. I feel like I am awesome in helping other people with their problems. I mean I love to give my point of view on things and try to rationalize why things are the way they are. And while I'm so wonderful at being a great 'friend' to others, I can't for the life of me express my own dang feelings. I tend to be better when I have to write things out (which is probably why I resorted to poetry when I was in high school), and even in text messages I can somewhat hold a semi-important conversation. But when it comes to verbal feedback...I'm the absolute worse. It's like my words get caught in space and never actually make it out of my mouth. I never really know what I'm going to say to begin with, and then I become a mute. I promise I don't mean to, but for the last 22+ years the way I've dealt with conflict is to avoid it, or to pretend it never happened in hopes that it would go away. But now I'm making a public vow to get my act together. This will definitely not be an overnight occurrence, but I want to get better. A few weeks ago we had a guest speaker in my Leadership class and we played a game that dealt with conflict/resolution. It was the first time I publicly acknowledged that I run from my problems/feelings but it wasn't until today that I realized how detrimental it can be not only in my profession, but in my personal life as well. I've been blessed with wonderful friends, family, and a significant other that surround me - and I want to make sure that they stay there. So I guess I'll take the advice of my bestest and 'woman-up' and face my fears/problems/emotions. I've got to learn to be a big girl and speak how I feel...but I'm not sure where to start when I've spent my entire life keeping everything bottled up inside...