Have you done things you wish you had not? Do you shout angry words you regret? Do you withdraw when the one you love is angry? We have two minds – one that thinks, called the Prefrontal Cortex, and one that feels, called the Amygdala. It takes as little as thousands of a second for our emotional mind to lead us to shout or runaway. The emotional mind can hijack the rational mind. We are no longer seeing reality clearly as our rational mind is high-jacked and our decisions suffer.
How do I stay grounded and present when I feel anger or fear?
We need to learn to stay grounded in our body and connect with the present moment. This type of mindfulness enables us to respond maturely to challenging circumstances and people. Affect Centered Therapy enables us to change our subconscious responses. Ninety-five percent of our thinking is subconscious, below the level of the thoughts of which we are aware.
When I get stressed I eat too much ice cream. I cannot stop! I get so mad at my spouse; I shout and later regret what I have said.
Affect Centered Therapy can rapidly enable us to respond differently to our challenges. We may leave a job that is a poor fit. We may no longer need marijuana to fall asleep. We may just walk away when someone shouts at us. John Omaha, Ph.D., MFT, the creator of Affect Centered Therapy and author of the book, “Psychotherapeutic Interventions for Emotional Regulation: EMDR and Bilateral Stimulation for Affect Management,” is in private practice in Santa Rosa, California in the United States of America. In this video, John demonstrates the important skill of being grounded and present.
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