There is a common pattern to the way many people tell stories about their emotions, particularly emotions that come up in their relationships. It involves a passive perspective, a perpetual stance of being made to feel certain ways. “She made me feel like I was invisible.” “He was trying to embarrass me.” “Her nagging is… Read more »
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Terrified, exhausted, super scared, fearful, bracing, holding, preparing, anxious, fatigued, dreading, panicked, hopeful, fierce, steady. These are the words that people have used to describe their visceral feelings in this moment. ‘Control what you can’ is a prescriptive offered by many helping professionals to take the focus away from what is outside of our power and… Read more »
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In this Experts at Home conversation, Dr. Les Greenberg and Dr. Lisa Firestone talk about the value of understanding our emotions, especially during challenging times. Watch Now: Subscribe to PsychAlive (it’s free!) to see more Experts at Home.
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Psychologists well know that a romantic breakup is one of the most traumatic experiences a person goes through. Considering the gravity of this event and the amount of emotional turmoil it creates, it’s astonishing to think that nearly every one of us will have this experience sometime in the course of our lives. The word… Read more »
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We all have those times when the ground beneath us seems to shift. Something bubbles up from within, be it anger, annoyance, sadness, frustration, offense, or hurt, and our mood darkens like a storm cloud stretching over the sky. A bad mood can feel like a head cold, overcoming us and forcing us to sludge… Read more »
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To a great extent, we live in a culture that resists and fears emotion. From the time we’re babies we’re taught to quickly shut off “negative” feelings like anger, sadness or pain. Yet, learning to suppress or overly control our emotions has serious consequences. When we avoid our feelings, we tune out important clues as… Read more »
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Feeling angry is a universal human phenomenon. It is as basic as feeling hungry, lonely, loving, or tired. -Theodore Rubin “A thought murder a day keeps the doctor away.” What this quote emphasizes is that feeling one’s angry thoughts is a healthy manifestation, whereas the denial or suppression of angry feelings has a pathological effect…. Read more »
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How can we best deal with our day-to-day emotional reactions? What can we do when our partner lets us down, when we have a struggle with our child, or when we feel provoked by a friend? Oddly enough, the first piece of advice is to stay with the pain. It turns out we expend much… Read more »
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