Emotional Regulation Therapy

Emotional regulation and its inverse “Emotional Dysregulation” means our ability to control and appropriately respond to our emotional experiences. It refers to the capacity to feel intense positive and negative affects or moods, without having our feelings hijacked, overwhelmed or resorting to ineffective coping strategies.

Signs of an inability to regulate emotions include:

• experiencing a flood of emotions
• difficulty recognizing and expressing emotions
• feeling uncontrollable
• having difficulty understanding why you feel the way you do
• misusing alcohol to hide or numb your emotions
• feeling like you want to hurt yourself

The causes of being unable to regulate emotions can vary. When we are young, we often hear advice intended to comfort us that usually has the opposite effect, such as “just get over it” or “stop crying, you’re fine.” We rarely acquire the skills to do so ourselves if our caretakers don’t acknowledge or soothe our emotions. Other causes may include medical or psychological conditions.

How emotional regulation affects you?

You notice that your emotions frequently change. The feeling of switching between numbness and agitation is familiar to you. Also, responses are frequently immediate, intense, and uncontrollable.

When faced with difficult emotions, you typically withdraw, feeling numb or go blank. You feel “on edge”, anxious, or struggle to turn off your mind at night.

In stressful situations, you may react by becoming fatigue or putting off responsibilities because you’re feeling too overwhelmed emotionally, or by becoming panicky, uneasy, and hypervigilant.

You believe that a traumatic event has shaped the way you handle your emotions.