Goals of Emotion Regulation
A family of emotions is:
Emotions representing differing intensities of an emotion (ex: frustration, anger, and rage)
The 3 purposes of emotions:
To motivate us into action, To communicate to ourselves, and To communicate to others
A prompting event is:
An event sets off the entire emotion process
Check the facts means:
Check out whether your reaction(s) fits the facts of the situation
Two myths about emotions:
Examples include: There is a right way to feel in every situation, Letting others know that I am feeling bad is a weakness, Negative feelings are bad and destructive, Being emotional means being out of control, etc.
Vulnerability factors are:
Things that can make you more emotionally sensitive (not getting enough sleep, not having eaten, being sick, past events, etc.)
An internal prompting event is:
Events that happen inside of you - a memory or a thought
Three steps to check the facts are:
Ask "What is the emotion I want to change?", Ask "What is the event prompting my emotion?", and Ask "Am I interpreting the situation correctly?"
The function of the emotion is:
The function is the purpose of the emotion, it is why we feel the emotion
Thoughts about the event are:
Your interpretations about the prompting event which give it some kind of meaning
An external prompting event is:
Events that happen around you - something you saw or heard, or something someone else said or did
An emotion does not fit the facts when:
It does not fit the facts of the actual situation and its intensity or duration are not effective for your goals in the situation
The 5 good uses of emotions are:
Give us info, communicate to others, influence others, motivate us, and prepare us for action
Inside the body, during the emotion model, someone might experience:
Heart beating faster, temperature going up, and muscles tensing
Outside the body, during the emotion model, someone might experience:
Facial expressions, posture, the words we say, and the behaviors we engage in
Opposite action is:
Acting opposite to the action urge when the emotion is doing more harm than good
The 4 goals of emotion regulation are:
Understand emotions, reduce emotional vulnerability, decrease the frequency of unwanted emotions, and decrease emotional suffering
An action urge is:
The urge to do a behavior, that we all have, before we engage in the actual behavior
Consequences of actions are:
The events that occur after our actions and/or body reactions - "aftereffects" of the emotion
The 7 steps for opposite action are:
Figure out the emotion you are feeling, Figure out what action urge goes along with that emotion, Ask if the emotion fits the facts of the situation, Ask if you want to change the emotion, Figure out the opposite action, Do the opposite action all the way, Repeat acting opposite until the emotion does down enough for you to notice