The power and agency to deliberately change one’s thoughts has had a profound effect on the lives of every-day human beings. We have learned that we can manage and control our thoughts and thus achieve well-being – excepting for thoughts we call ruminating or catastrophizing, which are linked to our negative feelings. But our aversive or over-excited feelings have notoriously maintained relentless control over us – especially strong, negative feelings, a common refrain being, “you can do something about your thoughts but you can’t control your feelings.” In the same way that we came to learn that we can directly and consciously change and affect the thoughts that appear in our minds, it is now also possible to directly and deliberately change and manage your own negative feelings and the rebel tribe of runaway thoughts that belong to them.
Feelings have, and continue to play an important role in human life from the perspective of adding meaning, the management of life, survival and thus the response to danger – whether real or perceived. With respect to survival, two dominant patterns and processes are presently available. The first pattern enables us to manage life from within a comfortable homeostatic range. Bodily and mental homeostasis, or balance, and a feeling of well-being are not only pleasant and sought-after experiences, but act in partnership as a function to inform us that the business of life-management is in hand. This enables us to get on with the business of life with respect to the demands of modern living. Antonio Damasio has noted that twenty first century life is founded on and spans thousands of years of human development, expanding the early primordial function of survival to also include sociocultural homeostasis and well-being thus, defining survival in a more complex, richer way.
The second, more dramatic pattern serves us when we are in real danger and life is threatened. It enables us to fight or flee the enemy or a dangerous situation. When real danger faces us, there is no need to manage feelings. Indeed, this is not the time to reflect and make considered decisions; it is time to act instantly, galvanizing us into fighting or fleeing. But, when there is no real danger this second pattern sabotages us.
The journey towards managing feelings has been paved with the bricks of many and varied approaches such as the thought approaches using Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) and the focus of attention in order to detach, such as in meditation, and a profusion of distracting strategies . Body activities such as breathing, exercise, yoga and progressive relaxation are also applied, as are the internal approaches such as the psychiatric paradigm of medication and the health approaches of herbal teas and remedies. Additionally, a few approaches advocate exposure or facing feelings and enduring their pain. Each one of these approaches has a value but none of them are entirely successful.
Specifically, what stands out with each one of these approaches, is that they do not focus direct attention on the painful feelings themselves, with the objective of managing them and changing them and being in control of this process – in the present moment, and importantly, as a pleasant experience.
To experience this process, contact Leslie Zimmermann at 083 384 9812 to make an appointment.
About Leslie
Leslie Zimmermann is a Jungian Analyst trained in the philosophy and psychology of C.G. Jung in Zürich and is based in Johannesburg. She offers a range of services, which she integrates, to meet the needs and aspirations of people. In a word, her work is in the service of wholeness. Wholeness includes both our vulnerabilities and our strengths, becoming conscious of our own unique mix of these, honoring our own unique way of functioning and with this knowledge and confidence, contributing as only we each can in our own way, to this evolving world we find ourselves to be a part of.
Besides having a Diplomate qualification in Analytical psychology, which qualifies me to write about the theory and practice of dream interpretation, I also have an Honours degree in Applied Psychology and a Masters degree in Research psychology, which qualify me to write about theories of human development, personality, abnormal psychology, social psychology, sociology and ethics. Also, theories and knowledge pertaining to sleep and dreams from a perspective of neuropsychological and biological systems.
Leslie specializes in Analytical Psychology, Voice Dialogue, Life Coaching solutions for business executives. Consulting and coaching for family owned and home-based business
For an appointment Leslie Zimmermann can be contacted on:
Email: leslie.zimmermann@gmail.com
Mobile: +27 (0)83 384 9812
Member: SAPC (South African Psychoanalytic Confederation); SAAJA (Southern African Association of Jungian Analysts); IAAP (International Association for Analytical Psychology); International Association for the Study of Dreams