Emotions
What are emotions?
- Instinctive & intuitive reactions arising in response to stimuli
- Both physiological & psychological
- Experienced subjectively
Characteristics of emotions:
Instinctive vs learned
- Emotions are instinctive, not learned
Physiological vs psychological
- Emotions impact the body and also mental experiences
Subjective experience
- Each person experiences emotions uniquely, even if the stimulus is the same
Response to various stimuli
- Emotions can be triggered by social interactions, events, thoughts and imagined situations
Ekman’s 7 basic emotions
- Happiness
- Sadness
- Anger
- Fear
- Suprise
- Disgust
- Contempt
Functions of Emotions
Survival
- Signals us to threats or opportunities in our envrionment
- Facial expressions & non verbal communication coordinate group response/ safety
Motivation & Action
- Emotions influence our behaviours
- Disgust helps us not eat off food
- Emotional responses are automatic and help us respond quickly
Social Cohesion
- Helps build social connections
- Creates empathy, compassion, shared experiences
- Can help or harm relationships
Integration of thinking & feeling
- Emotions & rational thought work together to guide decision making
- Creates adaptive problem solving
When emotions become problematic
- Interfering with daily functioning
- Lack of emotional regulation skills
- Maladaptive avoidance
- Extreme emotions
- Innapropriate responses
- Hindering personal growth
Emotion-Focused Individual Therapy (EFiT)
Foundations of EFit
- Modern emotion theory + affective neuroscience + neo-humanistic values
- Draws on scientific research while emphasising worth, growth and subjective experience of peope
- Sees emotions as essential to understanding ourselves
What is Neo-humanism in EFiT?
- Emphasises personal growth, inherent worth and subjective experiences
What does affective neuroscience study in EFiT?
- Emotions as primary motivational systems in the brain & body
What is emotional change in EFiT?
- The process of shifting emotional responses for lasting personal transformation
Principles of EFiT
Emotional Awareness
- Clients guided to notice, identify & understand their emotions
Emotional Expression
- Safe environment to fully express emotions
Acceptance & Validation
- Clients encouraged to accept all emotions as valid & meaningful
Transformation
- Clients learn to regulate emotions & change maladaptive patterns
Integration
- Clients use new emotional insights to improve their daily life
Stages of EFiT
- Engagement & Assessment
- Consolidation & integration
- Emotional awareness & expression
- Regulation & transformation
- Establishing Safety and Trust: The therapist builds a secure, attuned relationship and begins mapping the client’s emotional and attachment patterns.
- Emotional Exploration and Expression: The client accesses, deepens, and expresses core (often vulnerable) emotions in a supported, experiential way.
- Emotional Regulation and Transformation: Core emotions are reshaped through new emotional experiences (e.g., self-compassion softening shame, grief emerging beneath anger).
- Integration and Consolidation: These new emotional experiences are integrated into the client’s sense of self and guide more secure, adaptive ways of relating.
Strengths & Limitations of EfiT
| Strengths | Limitations |
| – deep emotional transformation – adaptable, client based approach – addresses thoughts, emotions, behaviours & physiological responses – can be tailored to client’s specific goals | – Requires a lot of training – Time consuming – Treatment might be longer than other approaches – Clients may resist focusing on emotions – More research needed |
Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT)
Foundations of SFBT
- Core belief that client can change
- Emphasis on autonomy, collaboration and solution
- Focus on positive solutions and strengths of client
- Assumes client already has resources for change
- Therapist os a facilitator, not authority figure
Core Assumptions of SFBT
- Autonomy & client empowerment
- Building rapport & empathy
- Supporting self-efficacy
- Solutions focused
- Clients are resourceful & capable
- Client is the expert
- Focus on the future
- Exceptions are important
- Change is constant & inevitable
Techniques used in SFBT
Scaling
- Clients rate their experiences from 0-10
- Quantifies and tracks progress
Miracle Question
- Asking clients to imagine future where problem is solved to help clarify goals & encourage creative thinking
Exception-Finding Questions
- Focus on times when the problem has been less severe or absent to identify already working coping mechanisms
Coping Questions
- Explore resilience strategies
Strengths & Limitations of SFBT
| Strengths | Limitations |
| – Efficient – Strengths approach creates hope – Boosts self efficacy – Adaptable – Good for immediate, practical change | – Might not be good for severe mental health conditions – Doesn’t take into account external barriers to resources – Hard for therapists to let go of control and fully embrace client’s perspective |
