While it might be easy to say phrases like "take a chill pill" or "it's all in your head," a mental health expert is sharing why words matter.

Terry Warburton, Clinical Director at Recovery of Hope Counselling in Winnipeg, says everyone has said something potentially harmful when discussing mental health.

"'As human beings, it is our emotions that make us different from every other creature on that planet.  It is our emotions that make us human, they also make us humane," Warburton says.

She says most commonly misspeaks come across as demands with things like "snap out of it" and "stop being so lazy." Warburton says that these instances often occur when people themselves are feeling short-fused.

"Who of us when we are stirred up by something and someone goes 'calm down it is not that big of a deal' who of us finds that helpful?" the asks. "We should be paying attention to our own thoughts and feelings, that is where slowing down, not being quick to say something, but listening to what is going on in us."

The expert says coming from a place of understanding will help ease the tension and avoid saying something harmful in the process.

"I think that one of the places that it comes from is just a lack of understanding and ignorance. And not even necessarily an intentional ignorance or not knowing, perhaps just you know not having that life experience or knowing people who had that experience."

She says another place it could come from is a place of caring but feeling helpless and frustrated.

To avoid saying something someone might regret, Warburton says to truly listen to the other person and try to understand where they may be emotionally and what they are feeling.

"To be slow to speak," she says. "There is a reason why that is in the bible."

Warburton is emphasizing the importance of acknowledging the misspeak with the other person.

"I think that if we are patient and listening to ourselves and how we are responding, and then we have that moment, later on, maybe it is a second later, maybe it is an hour later, maybe it is a day later it is like 'oh my goodness. I really did not mean to say it that way, or I really did not mean to come across like that,' I think that is true maturity."

If it is not addressed, it creates tension in the relationship.

When addressing the misspeak, the director says to avoid making it about ourselves, and instead focus on the other person.