Current methods for managing aversive emotions have some counterproductive steps and follow some necessary steps, but even these are not sufficient if the full, necessary sequential and complete array is not included. A specific pattern is necessary and a specific number of steps is necessary if the process of settling negative emotions is to result in calm, advantageous maturational choices and solutions in the present moment.
Self-regulation researchers maintain that despite the fact that multiple techniques and interventions attempt to alter or extend emotional states, this very fact of myriad strategies bears testament to the fact that they are generally not successful, with none of them on their own having the capacity to generate the emotional state wished for at the moment it is desired (Tice, 2009: 200).
Current approaches to managing emotions range from long-term psychoanalytic and psychodynamic therapies to short-term behaviour and cognitive therapies, to mindfulness. With respect to managing negative emotions, these approaches include seeking underlying unconscious causes, to generating images, to integration, discharge and symbolization of affects, to top-down cognitive strategies, exposure therapy, and detachment from thoughts and emotions. These approaches are typically practiced at set times of the day or week, not in the present moment in which the emotion arises and are, in fact, generally unsuitable to practice in public. A number of current approaches include focus on the sensations of emotions but closer reading shows that the focus is quickly removed by distraction strategies or by detaching from them.
I offer a process that differs from current approaches in that it involves a process for managing aversive emotions, in the present moment, when they are actually being experienced and subsequently enables you to make advantageous choices and find solutions. It does not require the ubiquitous use of distraction or detachment. It is pleasant from start to finish and facilitates the capacity to generate the emotional state wished for at the moment it is desired.
This approach was derived from an intrapsychic interpretation of the myth of the infant Mercury stealing Apollo’s oxen. It embraces hungers tied to desires expressed as, “what I want or do not want” and “what I like or do not like” when we are faced with situations and dynamics that oppose these hungers. The myth was interpreted from within a hermeneutic approach using symbolic understanding, modern-day knowledge of the body and brain, neurology, neuropsychology, developmental psychology, and psychology in general, these combined approaches being the accepted method for interpretation of symbolic material. The interpreted process is at its base, a combination of steps, whereby its underlying components and dynamics, when viewed through the initial interpretation and subsequent further reading, are supported by knowledge available in modern theories, are allied to existing sound research and recognized psychological and neural constructs, and can be articulated using current, accepted terminology.
Using the analogy of diets versus an ongoing lifestyle choice of eating healthily, this process is seen as being able to contribute to the management of emotions as a part of ongoing everyday life.
To experience this process, contact Leslie Zimmermann at 083 384 9812 to make an appointment.
Definitions
Detachment: An attitude of objective ‘observation’ which carries the sense of removing or distancing oneself from thoughts, feelings and body sensations, turning them into objects and viewing them as mental events, instead of one being the subject of one’s experience (Kerr et al., 2013).
Distract: “To attract (the attention) away from its original focus; divert” (American Heritage Dictionary, 2011).
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