Generally speaking feelings felt are feelings processed. The avoidance of the feeling is indeed the thing that keeps the feeling there in an unchanged state (waiting to be processed).

You’re absolutely right that the fastest way to be free of some guilt is to acknowledge what you did and atone for it, and that atonement often means feeling that guilt in as unfiltered a form as possible.

Kinda like quitting cigarettes. The only way out is through that withdrawal you keep putting off with each new cigarette.