*(From the work of Sandra Paulson and Katie O’Shea)
Our emotions protect us and enhance our lives. They’re part of us from the very beginning. If you watch a newborn baby, you’ll see that nobody has to teach them to feel fear, or anger, or delight, or contentment. Most of us have been told to ignore our feelings at times though, and may have even learned that it’s not ok to feel some feelings.
The truth is: emotions call our attention to what is important and accelerate our learning.
As soon as our feelings are felt, or released in our imaginations, we’ll automatically learn from our experiences and remember what’s important. The stronger they are, the faster we learn. Once that happens we no longer need the feelings to call our attention to the memory or problem, so we’ll return to feeling relaxed and mindfully aware, more capable of dealing with future difficulties.
Remember, trauma results from experiences we are not prepared to handle.
That’s why we want to make sure our emotions are working the way they were intended to work so we can learn from every experience as quickly as possible.
The Basic Emotional Circuits
Here are a list of emotions that we want to make sure are working properly before we get into deeper processing:
Life-preserving/Protective Emotions (AVOID)
• Shame
• Compassion
• Fear
• Disgust
• Anger
• Sadness/Grief
Life-enhancing/Connective Emotions (APPROACH)
• Pride
• Gratitude
• Curiosity/Seeking
• Joy/Play
• Love
• Loveable/Care
Each of these emotions are helpful in their own way of helping us live happy, healthy lives.
Resetting/Clearing Emotional Circuits
“Just like computer programs sometimes freeze up or don’t work properly because other programs interfere, our emotional “programs“ get messed up when we take in information that’s not useful or doesn’t fit with the way they’re supposed to work. So we need to “reinstall” your emotional programs, to make sure they’re working well.”
“Many people of been taught to ignore feelings, and may even have learned that it’s not OK to feel some feelings, so they disconnect from their feelings. It’s like clipping the dashboard wires in our car, just because we get uncomfortable when we see a red light that says the engine is overheating!”
When we work to clear our emotional circuits in session we allows ourselves to use the mind’s ability to make pictures to be sure our feelings aren’t “stuck” or are working improperly. First, we will use our container to put away all the upsetting memories and problems you still need to learn from. Next, we will allow ourself to feel safe when we are safe. And finally, we will see what picture comes to mind while we are paying attention to left right movements. When the pictures stop changing we can assume that feeling is ready to work like it’s supposed to. It won’t be too strong or not strong enough anymore; it will just be ready for you to feel it whenever it is needed.
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