China
Africa
Explore chapters and articles related to this topic
Emotional Freedom Techniques: A Safe Treatment Intervention for Many Trauma Based Issues
Published in Jacqueline Garrick, Mary Beth Williams, Trauma Treatment Techniques, 2014
Garry A. Flint, Willem Lammers, Deborah G. Mitnick
When the experience unfolds in a sequence of traumas, in some cases it may be appropriate to heal from the most recent trauma in the sequence and then work backwards to the first trauma of the sequence. This is done for several reasons. The most recent trauma is usually less threatening than the initial trauma. The initial trauma often has happened at a time when coping skills were not yet fully developed because of lack of life experience. If the treatment begins with the first trauma of the sequence, the later traumas may be triggered resulting in emotional flooding. Also, if the last traumatic experience is not the worst and is addressed first, the client can learn that the trauma of an event can be resolved.
What Changes? What Does It Mean?
Published in John R. Cutcliffe, José Carlos Santos, Paul S. Links, Juveria Zaheer, Henry G. Harder, Frank Campbell, Rod McCormick, Kari Harder, Yvonne Bergmans, Rahel Eynan, Routledge International Handbook of Clinical Suicide Research, 2013
The TAS-20 has been a useful measure of the difficulties with emotional processing that are characteristic of individuals with recurrent suicide-related behaviour and has been able to capture change following a time-limited intervention. This intervention targets emotion-processing difficulties and focuses on teaching emotional literacy, identifying and describing how one is feeling, and learning alternatives to suicide-related behaviour in response to emotional distress. In this focus, it provides a language that goes beyond the word “suicide” with the intent being that those who are being asked to help will be able to hear “not safe” or “afraid” more calmly than “suicide” or “die”. Our results showed that with a focus on teaching the language of emotion, alexithymia scores changed significantly. It could be suggested that a person who is neither able to identify or describe his or her emotions might be more prone to acting out distress. Without a language, feelings overwhelm or flood cognitive functions. Izard (2002) suggested that in times of emotional flooding, emotion will be the driver taking a “low road”, or noncognitive move to action — a process that occurs within milliseconds. These results suggest that the TAS-20 is a useful measure to capture the emotional-processing deficits found in persons with recurrent suicide-related behaviour and, more importantly, the measure may be sensitive to change that results from psychosocial interventions.
The Doctor-Centred Medical Care in Practice
Published in Shamit Kadosh, Asaf Rolef Ben-Shahar, Incorporating Psychotherapeutic Concepts and Interventions Within Medicine, 2019
Shamit Kadosh, Asaf Rolef Ben-Shahar
Taking a few minutes break before going to Hanna was crucial. Recognising my distress and being aware of my basic needs enabled me to self-regulate and cultivate my well-being. These are prerequisites for mindful practice and empathic communication. Observing my body sensations and intense emotions, I notice my overwhelming feelings. Instead of being identified with the emotional flooding, reacting emotionally or dissociating, I choose to connect with somatic resources such as grounding, centring, and breathing, and to self-regulate myself. Calmed down, I have the capacity to mindfully be aware of a full range of emotions that shed light on my understanding of this intricate situation. I endeavour to do it curiously, non-judgmentally with acceptance and self-compassion. Attuned to myself, aware of my feelings, resourced and self-regulated, my attention to Hanna’s feelings broadens and gets clearer. Hanna reminds me of how habitual and prevailing my tendency to push away Hanna’s suffering and embellish my medical success is. After a long time of my denial of her anger and suffering, I am capable of recognising it and talking about it while being fully present. Attending to Hanna’s suffering is not an easy choice. I have to face my own fears, vulnerability, and helplessness. I have to take responsibility for my incapability to be present with the various aspects of her suffering. I have to remind myself that engaging with difficult situations instead of withdrawing fosters well-being. I engage with the original meaning of being a doctor. Being in service not only as an expert and a life saviour, but also being in a human relationship, listening and supporting the heart and the soul.
Practical Applications of Neuroscience-Informed Art Therapy
Published in Art Therapy, 2019
Juliet L. King, Girija Kaimal, Lukasz Konopka, Christopher Belkofer, Christianne E. Strang
Alterations in regulation of hormonal and autonomic systems, which can be conceptualized as changes in balance or set point, are associated with a range of clinical disorders, including posttraumatic stress disorder and responses to chronic stress (Ayala et al., 2004; Dunn, Swiergiel, & Palamarchouk, 2004; Fitzgerald, 2015; O’Donnell, Hegadoren, & Coupland, 2004). Presumably, the decreased psychological trauma symptoms and depression (Campbell, Decker, Kruk, & Deaver, 2016; Schouten, Niet, Knipscheer, Kleber, & Hutschemaekers, 2014) and reduction of physiological markers associated with stress (Kaimal et al., 2018) reported after art therapy interventions reflects, in part, reregulation of hormonal and autonomic systems. Typically, the emotional centers of the brain (limbic system) tend to oppose those associated with cognition (prefrontal cortex). It is likely that accessing emotions will have a different and opposite response to accessing thoughts. For example, one might use cognitive interventions that include sharing information about the autonomic nervous system to help a client who is prone to emotional flooding. Sympathetic activation (fight–flight) might be a response to strong emotion that can result in changes in breathing, heart rate, and gut sensations. The fact that the parasympathetic system (rest–digest) provides a homeostatic balance can assist clients in understanding that no emotion lasts forever and helps to explain how breathing exercises and other grounding techniques can affect emotional states.
A Scoping Review of Challenges in Adult Intimate Relationships After Childhood Sexual Abuse
Published in Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, 2018
Ben Farid Røjgaard Nielsen, Gitte Wind, Tine Tjørnhøj-Thomsen, Bente Martinsen
Couples in which one partner had been exposed to CSA reported high levels of emotional intensity in their communications (Nelson & Wampler, 2000) and greater contempt and defensiveness in their relationships (Walker et al., 2011). Individuals with CSA found it particularly challenging to regulate their response when their partner was directed to reach out to them and ask them to help in meeting a relational goal. They had difficulty controlling their emotions. On the opposite side of the spectrum from emotional flooding, emotional numbing emerged as a result of fearing emotional overwhelm and loss of control. Emotional numbing and extreme control characterized the responses of many adults with CSA to emotionally challenging situations. Adults exposed to CSA experienced emotions in an all-or-nothing way, being either dysregulated and flooded with affect or numbed out (MacIntosh & Johnson, 2008).
When the Pain Becomes Unbearable: Case-Control Study of Mental Pain Characteristics Among Medically Serious Suicide Attempters
Published in Archives of Suicide Research, 2018
Y. Levi-Belz, Y. Gvion, S. Grisaru, A. Apter
The Orbach and Mikulincer mental pain scale (OMMP; Orbach, Mikulincer, Sirota, et al., 2003) is a 45-item self-report instrument that assesses the participant’s current experience of mental pain. The items address various aspects of the respondent’s perception that life and the self have changed for the worse, as well as the accompanying negative feelings. Orbach and colleagues’ factor analysis of these items revealed nine subscales that measure the experience of distinct aspects of mental pain: Irreversibility of pain (e.g., “My life has changed irrevocably”); 2) Loss of Control (e.g., “I cannot control what is happening inside me”; 3) Narcissistic Wounds (e.g., “No one is interested in me”); 4) Emotional Flooding (e.g., “I am in emotional turmoil”); 5) emotional freezing (e.g., “I feel paralyzed”); 6) Internal Alienation and Estrangement (e.g., “I feel unreal”); 7) Cognitive Difficulties (e.g., “I cannot concentrate”); 8) Emptiness (e.g., “I don’t feel like doing anything”); and 9) Social Distancing (e.g., “I need support from others”). Each factor comprises 3–10 items. Participants are requested to rate each item on a 5-point Likert-type scale, with higher values reflecting greater mental pain. All OMMP subscales also showed good reliability and convergent validity, excepting the Social Distancing subscale (correlation with anxious and depressive cognitions of. 26 and. 64 for depression, and. 27 and. 50 for anxiety; Orbach, Mikulincer, Gilboa-Schechtman, et al., 2003). In our sample, Cronbach alpha coefficients for eight the OMMP factors ranged between. 75 and. 89. The Social Distancing factor was omitted from the data analysis due to its low Cronbach reliability (.34).