Emotional Regulation

INCREASE POSTIVE EMOTIONS

 

ATTEND TO RELATIONSHIPS

Repair old relationships

Reach out for new relationships

Work on current relationships

 

AVOID AVOIDING

Avoid giving up

 

BE MINDFUL OF POSITIVE EXPERIENCES

FOCUS your attention on positive events that happen

REFOCUS  when your mind wanders to the negative

Be UNMINDFUL  of worries

 

DISTRACT from:

Thinking about when the positive experience WILL END

Thinking about whether you DESERVE this positive experience

Thinking about how much more might be EXPECTED of you now

 

CHANGING EMOTION BY ACTING OPPOSITE TO THE CURRENT EMOTION

 

FEAR

Do what you are afraid of doing... OVER AND OVER AND OVER.

Approach events, places, tasks, activities, people you are afraid of.

When overwhelmed, make a list of small steps or tasks you can do.

DO the first thing on the list

 

 

GUILT OR SHAME

When guilt or shame is JUSTIFIED (emotion FITS your wise mind values)

Repair the transgression

Say your sorry, apologise.

Make things better, do something nice for person you offended ( or someone else if that is not possible).

Commit to avoiding that mistake in the future.

Accept the consciences gracefully.

Then let it go.

 

GUILT OR SHAME

When guilt or shame is UNJUSTIFIED (emotion DOES NOT fit your wise mind values)

Do what makes you feel guilty or ashamed....OVER AND OVER AND OVER.

Approach, don't avoid.

 

SADNESS OR DEPRESSION

Get Active, approach, don't avoid

Do things that make you feel competent and self-confident

 

ANGER

Gently avoid the person you are angry with rather than attacking them (Avoid thinking about him or her rather than ruminating).

Do something nice rather than mean or attacking

Imagine sympathy and empathy for other person rather than blame.

 

LETTING GO OF EMOTIONAL SUFFERING

Mindfulness of your Current Emotion

 

OBSERVE YOUR EMOTION

NOTE its presence

Step BACK

Get UNSTUCK from the emotion

 

EXPERIENCE YOUR EMOTION

As a WAVE, coming and going

Try not to BLOCK emotion

Try not to SUPPRESS emotion

Don't try to GET RID of emotion

Don't PUSH it away

Don't try to KEEP emotion around

Don't HOLD ON to it

Don't AMPLIFY it

 

REMEMBER YOU ARE NOT YOUR EMOTION

Do not necessarily ACT on your emotion

Remember times when you have felt DIFFERENT

 

PRACTIVE LOVING YOUR EMOTION

Don't JUDGE your emotion. Practice WILLINGNESS

Radically ACCEPT your emotion

 

ACTIVITIES THAT ARE PLEASANT

such as playing my keyboard, taking photos on a digital camera and writing poems to them, joining a community programme or a church, thinking that I'm a person who can cope, remembering beautiful scenery, singing in my room having a lovely warm bath with candles and bubble bath, meditating



RE-IMAGINING DREAMS, THE DANDELION WAY... by Marguerite Black

A part of being a registered Wellness Counsellor, is my NPO that offers quality psychosocial care to children and teens with illness,
disability and victims of abuse.

Our aim is to promote a holistic approach to psychosocial care and to enable
children and adolescents to experience psychological freedom despite the
limitations of illness and disability. Through the cultivation of positive,
empowered or relaxed attitudes and perceptions, patients learn to reclaim
their identities and embrace mental wellbeing.

Our work entails play therapy, body and emotional intelligence training,
art, music, relaxation techniques, visualisation, journaling and other
counselling techniques such as Cognitive Behaviour Therapy. The theoretical
underpinning of our work is based on a Gestalt epistemology which emphasises
the raising of the child's awareness, exploration of sensory stimulation and
interaction with the child or adolescent on a holistic level. Our work stems
from the fact that children heal from stress and trauma through play. Trauma
counselling is also of paramount importance and is fundamental to our work.
We work with children and adolescents on an in-depth level (more or less 2
hours per child). Being cognizant of the child or adolescent's developmental
phase  and working within age appropriate parameters, form the foundation of
the work.

An existentialist space is created for the child in which to be seen, heard
and understood. The child has the opportunity to use this as a platform on
which to tell his/ her authentic story. The child is also encouraged to
externalise illness or disability and to rather explore his/ her talents,
abilities and strengths, to develop new thinking or perspectives and,
therefore new life possibilities. The aim is for the child to see
him/herself as being separate from the usual description of identity in
pathological terms. The multi-modal approach also has a post-modernist,
positive orientation which implies that we focus on the child's strengths
and on what work in the child's life.

IN SUMMARY:
...............................................................
The following approaches form a framework to the therapy:

GESTALT - We have a very holistic approach with much emphasis on sensory
exploration.
POST-MODERNISM:  We have a positive orientation, focusing on the client's
strengths and what WORKS in his/ her life.
EXISTENTIALISM: Together we explore each individual's purpose and reason for
living.
CBT: challenging negative thinking and exploring helpful self-affirmations.
PERSON-CENTRED ORIENTATION:  Our approach focuses on listening,
understanding to and compassion for the  client.

Techniques include
.       Creative arts therapy including music making, art and movement/
dance
.       Play therapy
.       Journaling

The work is embedded in the theories of Piaget, Erikson and Vygotski.

Therapy allows the child to engage with his/her body in a playful way. The broken body tends to be defined in pathological terms, especially in a hospital setting. Play allows the child to befriend the body once again. Play also helps the child rejuvenate him/herself.

RE-AWAKENING HOPE
   RE-IMAGINING DREAMS
      RE-KINDLING JOY
         RE-CREATING STORIES