©Arlene R. Taylor PhD
Managing emotions optimally is a learned skill. Many didn’t learn that skill growing up because their caregivers and role
rmodels didn’t have that skill (and human beings
can only teach what they know).
Children learn their first skills related to identifying, using, and managing emotions by observing their caregivers and role models. If yours were highly functional in terms of managing their emotions, you may have gotten a jump-start on the process. If that was not the case, there is work to do! It may even involve some reparenting.
Following are examples of the way in which individuals might approach emotions based on innate brain bent.
Prioritizing Division |
Envisioning
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Individuals with their energy advantage in this division tend to be somewhat oblivious to emotion in both the self and in others and may:
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Individuals with their energy advantage in this division tend to perceive emotion in the self but may not read nonverbals easily in others and may:
|
Maintaining |
Harmonizing Division
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Individuals with their energy advantage in this division tend to avoid emotions when possible and may:
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Individuals with their energy advantage in this division tend to perceives emotion in the self and in others and may:
|
Managing Emotions and Feelings
According to Candace Pert PhD, the molecules of emotion are designed to connect the consious with the subconscious and provide valuable information. Other studies have shown that emotions and feelings follow separate pathways in the brain (refer to Brain References).
You are in a much better position to make conscious choices about the way in which you want to manage your emotions and feelings, the actions you decide to take, and the behaviors you choose to exhibit when you:
- Have identified your emotional history, including the emotional atmosphere(s) experienced during childhood and adolescence
- Are able to differentiate between emotions and feelings, theoretically and practically
- Understand some of the factors that have contributed to your present emotional tone
With practice, you can learn to identify and experience all emotions, choose appropriate actions—sometimes the appropriate action is to do nothing—and talk him/herself through the process of moving back to joy. You can hone the skill of processing an event with an emotional component, especially one that involves an overreaction, quickly and consciously. You can talk yourself through the process; you can teach the strategy to young children. And it can be fun!