Learn how to use your emotional imagination to combat anxiety, this monster that stalks us and prevents us from enjoying it here and now, at this point that many days before we get out of bed, we are already overwhelmed by everything we have to do in the next hour, weeks and months.
We have these internalized concerns that end up becoming part of us and sliding between our thoughts, when we do not perceive their presence constantly, as if they were a background of everything we do or a menacing shadow that does not. they don’t even go away when the sun goes down.
- But is it possible to live?.
- ? beyond?I have to do it tomorrow?Keep reading and find out what the emotional imagination is!.
“Does everyone have the ability to change? -Albert Ellis-
Emotional imagination is a psychological technique that is part of the Rational Emotional Behavior Therapy of Albert Ellis, one of the most recognized psychotherapists of all time. This therapy is based on the cognitive behavioral approach, which has the most empirical support among all the currents of psychology. In other words, its use is proven and validated by several studies.
Don’t we all want it when we go to the psychologist? Unfortunately we still hear knowledge or have the experience of going to therapy and that did not help us, although this cannot be generalized and it is not an irrefutable guarantee, going to a cognitive behavioral therapist can be very effective and useful.
“We teach people to hurt themselves. We can’t change the past, so are we going to change the way people think, feel and behave today?-Albert Ellis-
Now, to understand why emotional imagination can be useful, it is necessary to understand what is postulated from the cognitive behavioral current about emotions, which are the responses of our organization to changes in the external or internal environment, that is, emotions can appear from causes that happen around us, but also because of thoughts that appear in our minds.
In fact, these reflections are a fundamental part of the subject at hand, the emotional imagination will try to give us tools to modify and manage this negative internal discourse that often facilitates the triggering of negative emotions.
An example: you drive smoothly on the highway and, when you cross a car in the left lane, another one appears behind you at full speed, in the face of this situation, are there people who think about it, how can you drive so aggressively?Don’t you realize you have to slow down and you could cause an accident?Who thinks you can drive like this?How do you feel when you think like that?
Certainly emotions such as anxiety and anger will appear. Makes sense, doesn’t it? Now, there are other people who may have a different inner discourse: “Well, can you do whatever you want?” I’ll keep going at this speed until I get to the car, is it your problem if you’re in a hurry and you’re not?Wait?. In this case, even if there is anxiety or anger, the intensity of these emotions will be lower.
To use emotional imagination, the first thing to consider is our ability to imagine, if this is difficult for us, we may first need a series of training exercises to increase our skills in this area.
First we have to think of a situation that generates anxiety, once we have it in mind we have to think about all the details of what is going on and it generates such a degree of discomfort.
Then we will try to feel other negative emotions, but that are not so disturbing, that is, we need to draw more appropriate and moderate negative emotions, of course, it is important to take into account that nothing can be changed in the imagined situation: the change of emotion must occur through an exercise of the person.
Once we do, we must verbalize the thoughts that have emerged and that have helped us adapt our negative emotions. Following the example of the car coming towards us, we should try to find the thoughts we mentioned in the second situation.
Imagination is a tool that is well used and trained can greatly facilitate the regulation of our emotions, in addition, the positive point of cognitive behavioral techniques is that they are complementary, so different tools can be used depending on the situation.
In this sense, the emotional imagination is an extra?Who helps us in a central aspect, the management of dysfunctional and un adaptable thoughts?To reduce our discomfort. As is easy to imagine, although we understand the importance of learning to do so, we often find it difficult to get it in therapy.
“The best years of your life are those in which you decide that your problems are yours alone. It’s not your mother’s fault, ecology or president. ” Does anyone like that have control over their own destiny?-Albert Ellis-
Here, the emotional imagination can help us think more carefully and critically about these concerns and fears we have, it also helps us correct past mistakes and trains us to develop rational skills to prevent them from happening again in the future. It helps us improve our self-esteem and confidence, because we are better able to deal with situations that cause us discomfort.
In short, it helps us re-educate ourselves emotionally. Still, we must not forget that, if someone feels a great discomfort, the first step in regaining the reins of our life is to go to a good psychologist, will it be this professional who will help us develop the right strategies so that we can regain control?Let’s work to better regulate our anxiety!
Images courtesy of Tanja Heffner, Davide Ragusa and Ian Espinosa.