EMOTION REGULATION

“There can be no knowledge without emotions. We may be aware of a truth, yet until we have felt it in its force, it is not ours” – albert bennett

The goal of emotion regulation is to reduce emotional suffering. The goal is not to get rid of emotions as emotions have important function in our lives. Without emotions, we are unable to make the smallest decision, as we are devoid of preferences and have nothing to move us towards one opinion or another.  

But emotions like everything else in life can go wrong. Once we learn that negative emotions are workable, that is we can understand them and find meaningful ways to cope with them, they lose much of their toxicity. When we learn to regulate emotions, it reduces our vulnerability to extremely painfully emotional experiences and increases our emotional resilience.

Certain myths on Emotions make it hard for us to regulate our emotions

• Myths that emotions are bad/weak leading to avoidance
• Myths that extreme emotions are necessary or are part of who we are keep us from trying to regulate our strong emotions

How can Therapy help with Emotion Regulation

During therapy, we aim to cultivate emotional awareness and promote emotional acceptance.

Emotional Awareness helps you to identify and describe how you feel and why, build emotional vocabulary and respond accordingly.

Emotional Acceptance is a mindset, an approach of giving ourselves permission to experience our emotions and taking the perspective that they’re human rather than silly, weak, crazy, wrong, dangerous, or beyond our power to manage.  It’s about giving ourselves the space to listen to ourselves in a nonjudgmental way.

We also practice mindfulness skills, particularly non-judgmental observations and description of your own current emotions.