Category Archives: Psychology and Psychotherapy

Psychology and Psychotherapy

Seven Strategies for Emotional Regulation

Overview of Emotional Regulation

Although emotional regulation had become a scientific topic by 1990, recent research has revealed specific strategies for emotional regulation. These strategies are listed immediately below.  My patients who struggle with dysregulation of anxiety, depression, and anger are neglecting these practices except for the final two. When patients proactively cultivate all the strategies, they report that their emotions do not become worse. It must be noted that the purpose of emotional regulation practices is to prevent emotions from escalating and not to make them disappear.

  1. Social Sharing
  2. Acceptance
  3. Savoring
  4. Reappraisal
  5. Suppression
  6. Distraction
  7. Hedonic Activities

Overview of Emotions and Their Regulation

You may review the topic of emotions and their regulation in two prior posts: Emotional Intelligence and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT).

Here is an excellent dictionary definition of emotion: a conscious mental reaction (such as anger or fear [or sadness]) subjectively experienced as strong feeling usually directed toward a specific object [or person or situation] and typically accompanied by physiological and behavioral changes in the body. ((“emotion.” 2022. In Merriam-Webster.com. Retrieved February 3, 2022, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/emotion. (Author’s additions in brackets) ))

Here is a list of the six basic personal emotions and the four basic social emotions. Clinical analogs resulting from dysregulation are in parentheses.

Personal emotions:

  1. Fear (Various anxiety disorders)
  2. Anger (Narcissistic personality disorder)
  3. Sadness (Various depressive disorders)
  4. Joy (Mania)
  5. Disgust (Obsessive-compulsive disorder; various phobias)
  6. Surprise (Autism)

Social emotions:

  1. Shame (Social anxiety)
  2. Guilt (Obsessive-compulsive disorder; scrupulosity)
  3. Embarrassment (Social anxiety)
  4. Pride of accomplishment (Narcissistic personality disorder)

Endnote

If you are struggling with undue anxiety, depression, or anger, it is recommended that you concentrate more on the first five listed strategies and let up somewhat on the last two. During the coming weeks, I will publish a series of posts addressing the individual strategies.

Good mental health,

Dr. Michael DeCaria

(The featured image is of a lake in Minnesota’s  remote Becker County. Photograph by the author)

 

 

 

 

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Psychology and Psychotherapy

Psychological Well-being

Psychological well-being (PWB) is a framework of positive functioning. Two professors at the University of Wisconsin published an article in 1995 that revealed the six unique factors of psychological well-being. Here they are:

1. Autonomy

Autonomy is the ability to act according to an internal compass. The actions of autonomous individuals are not dictated by the majority. Autonomy in the context of PWB is not contrariness for its own sake. Rather, knowledgeable autonomy is earned by dialectical thinking, i.e., thoroughly analyzing the proposition at hand (the thesis) as well as the relevant counter propositions (the antitheses). At the end of the process of intelligently comparing and contrasting, an informed conclusion (the synthesis) emerges. Persons with autonomy are informed by facts and contexts empirically determined, and their professed beliefs are not membership cards in tribal groups.

2. Environmental Mastery

Environmental mastery is competence derived from awareness of opportunities in the environment and then using those opportunities to meet one’s needs. The competencies can be basic activities of daily living, or they can result in artistic and intellectual achievements. Persons strong in this attribute approach the environment with awe and courage.

3. Personal Growth

People who value personal growth may be somewhat satisfied with their current knowledge, skills, and abilities but look forward to enhancing them. These people live not only for today; but also for tomorrow. Further, they don’t celebrate their past achievements; yesterday’s accomplishments are gifts to which the donors relinquish all claim.

4. Positive Relations with Others

Persons with PWB have people in their lives whom they trust. Persons with PWB have empathy and warm feelings towards all of their fellow humans. Yes, this includes the people they don’t personally know. Dunbar’s number is relevant here because it proposes that each human is capable of about 150 stable personal relationships, but a good life requires a much larger community. “How large?” you ask. One hundred million is too small a number. ((I admit that when I first heard that number, I was surprised. I urge you to study not only Professor Krugman’s column but also the Charlie Stroll essay he references.))

5. Purpose in Life

This factor concerns having goals that are bigger than ourselves. It is expected that our goals evolve as our we inhabit different stages of life. How are personal growth and purpose in life related? The former is individual and the latter is social. Empathy, a key component in emotional intelligence, inspires purpose in life.

6. Self-Acceptance

People with self-acceptance value themselves realistically in failure and in success. They especially acknowledge the life episodes that have overwhelmed them. Just as self-accepting people do not relive past triumphs, they do not beat themselves up over past setbacks. Of course, self-accepting people periodically analyze the setbacks to learn from their mistakes and to atone for the harm they may have caused.

Endnote

Psychological well-being is not to be mistaken for subjective well-being (SWB) which is defined as the momentary experiencing of joy along with the absence of pain and anxiety. Attempting to increase one’s happiness, a dispositional trait, by increasing SWB, a momentary state, is sometimes a trap. Subjective well-being is a withdrawal from the happiness bank while psychological well-being is a deposit. Exhausting one’s happiness bank account is self-destructive.

Good mental health,

Dr. Michael DeCaria

The featured image is a white ash tree (Fraxinus americana) that lives two houses to the east of me. Here a south wind buffets the tree just hours before the first cold front of fall. (Photo by the author)

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