A GoodTherapy.org News Headline

Being able to recognize emotional activity within others is one of the most important aspects of social interaction, and difficulties with such tasks can have a negative impact on the lives of many people, spawning interest in creating ways to help trigger recognition. Recently, a team from the York Neuroimaging Centre at the University of York used the MagnetoEncephaloGraphic, or MEG, equipment retained by the school to study electrical activity in the brains of participants. Results showed that participants were most engaged when exposed to both audio and imagery of emotions as opposed to either stimulus alone. With greater investigation, this information may help create better programs for those who have difficulty perceiving or identifying emotions in others.

© Copyright 2009 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist Minneapolis Bureau - All Rights Reserved.

A GoodTherapy.org News Headline

There is plenty of anecdotal evidence to suggest that in general, women are better able to identify emotions than men. But until recently, it has been difficult to secure objective, meaningful findings upon which furhter research can be based. The need for such evidence has been addressed recently with the completion of a study performed at Université de Montréal. The study tested women and men for their powers of identification of fear and disgust, two important emotions in terms of psychological evolution. Using live and recorded actors, the study was able to incorporate facial movements, an aspect of emotion identification that has been absent in previous efforts. The research may help develop tools to help men improve their ability to perceive others.

© Copyright 2009 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist Ann Arbor Bureau - All Rights Reserved.

GoodTherapy.org Featured Column written by Judith Barr, MA, LMHC

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A few weeks ago, I spent the morning with a group of financial planners in Atlanta. It was a delicious experience . . . from the moments before my talk began, when several of the members introduced themselves and thanked me for coming to their meeting . . . through the talk, and two heart-touching demonstrations of my work with the root of people’s relationships with money . . . to the harvesting, during which many participants acknowledged they realized they knew they needed to do their own work for themselves and they knew they needed to do their own work if they were going to help their clients.*

I was moved again and again as these open, willing, courageous men and women allowed me to touch them with the truth . . . that nothing we do with our money in the here and now will create a sustaining and sustainable relationship with money . . . until we do the inner work on our relationship with money. No matter how well we budget our money; no matter how much money we save; no matter how wisely we spend; no matter how well we plan. That the only thing that will create a sustainable relationship with money is doing our own inner healing work with the root of our relationship with money . . . which inevitably leads to some other aspect of our life experience and our psyche that is calling out for healing and growth. Read the rest of this entry

By Anne Ream ATR-BC, LPC

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“Opposites attract” is an old quotation that has validity. People are often attracted to a partner whose emotional style differs from their own.

What is an emotional style? Personality can describe emotional style. Introverted or extroverted is one good example. Highly expressive of emotions or highly reserved is another example. Our emotional style is the result of our genetic inheritance and how our parents attached to us when we were infants. Given enough time and appropriate help we can change our emotional style if we choose.

Having an individual emotional style is fine unless a person begins to have difficulty with relationships. Relationships are vital for a fulfilling and healthy life. When an individual has difficulty developing healthy relationships, she could consider what might be going on within themselves that results in this difficulty.

At times, the problem can be the result of two people having very different emotional styles. However, since opposites do attract, it’s important for each partner to ask themselves, “I felt attracted to this person because they were so expressive (or reserved), now I feel disgusted by it, why?” The resulting answer may be to blame the other person and abdicate personal responsibility. Unfortunately blame is often what happens; one partner is perceived as, “the problem,” and that person is selected to go to therapy. Read the rest of this entry

By Anne Ream ATR-BC, LPC

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For many years, I felt uncomfortable when someone started talking about another person’s “attitude.” It always seemed as if the speaker was simply angry and wanted to make the other person change, often using their own negative attitude. When the angry party exploded with “I don’t like your attitude,” it was as if they fully expected the other person to magically manifest a better one. This did not make sense to me. As a result, I’ve done a lot of thinking about what an attitude really is.

In the course of cognitive behavioral studies I’ve learned that when it comes to the concept of an “attitude,” there are a number of factors involved. The first is a situation, the second is a collection of thoughts a person has about that situation, the third is a collection of feelings surrounding the situation, and the fourth is comprised of behaviors that result from these thoughts and feelings. Based on these factors, I asked the question “what part of the equation is an attitude?”. It’s not the situation, nor is it a thought or a feeling, so it must have something to do with behavior. Indeed, an attitude is a set of small behaviors. An attitude is comprised of facial expressions, tone of voice, and body language, all of which express an individual’s thoughts and feelings. Read the rest of this entry

By Barbi Pecenco, MA

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Before I received training in marriage and family therapy, I was extremely blaming and critical of my husband. I truly believed everything that I felt was all his fault.

Through my schooling, I learned that I needed to take a look at what was being triggered in me when he did certain things. So if he went golfing and surfing for a few hours on the weekend, all I could see was how he was depriving me of attention and his time, and not how enjoyable and nourishing these activities were for him. And I certainly didn’t see that maybe I needed to get some outside activities of my own!

And since I was completely CERTAIN that he shouldn’t be depriving me of his time and attention like that, I felt very justified in saying such things as, “You never want to spend time with me,” or “You care about your hobbies more than me,” or “You are a huge jerk!” I had no idea that this sort of blaming and attacking only triggered him to feel like a bad husband and made him shut down. So when he got quiet or defensive or needed to get away from me, that just confirmed what I already thought I knew, which was that he just didn’t really care about me.

I finally realized that I needed to look at myself and why I immediately jumped to the conclusion that he didn’t care just because he had some hobbies that didn’t include me. I was finally able to see that what was being triggered in me was a deep down, unconscious fear that I was unlovable. On a conscious level, I did not know that this was a fear that I had. If anyone asked me, I would have insisted that I felt just fine about my lovability, thank you very much. It’s hard to know what is lurking below the surface of our consciousness. Read the rest of this entry

Written by by Debra L. Kaplan, MA, LAC, LISAC

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From birth onward we begin the enduring act of maturing and experientially processing interaction. At birth our emotions are open and vulnerable but most importantly we are present and living in the moment. A baby instinctively cries without delay when sensing hunger, dampness from a dirty bottom, or generalized pain and discomfort.

As we mature our emotions are woven into our personal filters that evolve from our internal and external exchanges that take place in our lives. This offers much in the way of an explanation as to how our filters develop and how our internal emotions are harnessed in an effort to welcome life or yoked to keep them at arms length. Early on, if we learn trust and consistency our fragile, developing egos are comforted and eased by knowing that our needs will be met. The silent message delivered is safety and trust. In the absence of such nurturance we may learn to distrust or expect disappointment. Hence our core emotion of fear becomes ever present and accounted for by expected let-downs or anticipated wrongs to be brought against us…. Read the rest of this entry

Written by Rod Louden, M.A., MFT

With every emotional and/or physical painful experience in life, you have the opportunity to write and store knowledge about pain. You add new volumes every year. Moments of unhappiness, confusion, failure, depression, and the act of making the same mistakes over and over, all present the opportunity for you to write and store productive knowledge about pain. The problem is that most people, who continuously struggle in relationships and life, create volumes of false and misleading information about emotional pain.

Documenting knowledge about pain began from the moment you were forced out into this world from your mother’s womb and felt that sharp slap across your bottom. With this slap, you were introduced to a harsh reality of our world: it is full of painful experiences.

If you’re like most people, the word pain is viewed in negative light. It has several friends that hang around with it: hurt, ache, suffering, and agony to name a few. The origin for pains “reputation” comes from our early learning experiences with physical pain… Read the rest of this entry

Written by Rod Louden, LMFT

Millions of singles across the world are looking to create relationship bliss. It takes time. It requires energy. It mandates desire. A lot of people have all that. What they don’t have is a valid and reliable Roadmap to Relationship Success. Whether they’re accessing Yahoo Maps or their personal database—if the information used to create a Roadmap is faulty, they’ll end up lost. If you’re single and feeling lost, here are five easy steps that you can take toward creating your dream relationship… Read the rest of this entry