Julia Crane

counselling services

01934 257037
enquiries@counsellingwestonsupermare.co.uk

Emotional pain: why do we have it?

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Given the option, most of us would generally prefer not to feel pain. That is the way it is meant to be.

When we are functioning well, we experience a flow of emotion within a tolerable range and we feel balanced, well, socially engaged, and able to cope. We have systems in place to maintain such a state, which is optimal for our survival and functioning. Spending too much time in a hyper- or hypoaroused state (outside of this “Window of Tolerance”) is detrimental to our physical and mental health, and can even result in death.

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Anger and Rage

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Until fairly recently, I had thought of anger and rage as being on a continuum; I believed they were different shades of the same emotion. I then had a life experience that triggered what I now know to be rage. I experienced this as an extreme and primitive emotion, which was way beyond any angry feelings I had ever experienced before. Underlying this rage was a terror of not being able to cope alone.

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Books on Prescription

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People in England with mild to moderate mental health concerns, including panic attacks, anxiety and depression, are to be prescribed self-help books which they can borrow from their local library. The Books on Prescription scheme, developed by the Reading Agency charity, is being rolled out across GPs’ surgeries and libraries in England in May.

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Ever been emotionally hijacked?

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We’ve all been there…Your partner said something that upset you and you responded with an emotional outburst…You received an email that annoyed you and you dashed off a knee-jerk reply that you later regret…

When we feel under threat and are scared and anxious, our brain’s processing shifts to primitive neural networks designed for survival. In this survival state, it is difficult to think clearly and to make wise choices; anxiety and fear inhibit the sort of processing required for good judgment, problem-solving, compassion and empathy. The more threatened we feel, the more likely we are to dig our heels in and fall back on rigid thinking and behaviours; there is no room for more adaptive behaviours such as negotiation and creative problem-solving, and growth (of the person and of his/her relationships) is inhibited.

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Difficulties expressing or managing anger?

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Anger is an emotion common to all of us as human beings, whether we recognise it in ourselves or not. The way we express anger (or don’t), is largely shaped by our past life experiences. You may have been punished for expressing anger when you were a child, or you may have witnessed your parents’ anger when it was out of control and frightening or when it manifested in other ways, such as through stoney silence. [Read more…]

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