Can your emotion lead you astray when overwhelmed by intense feelings? Perhaps. It may not be a good idea to follow your emotion if it means following it blindly while the logical part of your brain is shut down. When you enter an emotional hurricane where intense emotions … [Read more...]
Are your “wants” and “shoulds” in balance?
You and your relationships depend on it. If you only do what you want to do, you will get exactly what you do not want. -Kristin Barton Cuthriell Marsha Linehan, founder of dialectical behavior therapy, stresses the need to balance our “wants” and “shoulds.” Dr. Linehan … [Read more...]
Steps to Reduce Vulnerability to Extreme Emotional Mind
Several years ago, I was working as a therapist in a day treatment facility for substance abusers. HALT was one of the relapse strategies that was taught. HALT is an acronym for the four words hungry, angry, lonely, and tired. When a person struggling with an addiction is in … [Read more...]
Emotional Regulation: Getting Your Emotions Out of the Driver’s Seat
Written by Kristin Barton Cuthriell, M.Ed., MSW, LCSW How do you handle distress? Do you remain in control, or do you react in destructive ways? Your emotions are valid; but you, and only you, are responsible for your reactions. No one made you do it. When you become angry, … [Read more...]
This, Too, Shall Pass
Written by Kristin Barton Cuthriell, M.Ed., MSW, LCSW Riding the Wave of Emotion Who said that we are to be happy all the time? We all have rough days. Days when we wake up on the wrong side of the bed. Days when we would rather not get out of bed. Days when one thing after … [Read more...]