Get Back to Your Feeling Console with Your Full Self
Dr. Scott Conkright LLC
Leading Mental Health Practitioner | Psy.D., Clinical Psychology
? Scott Conkright, Psy.D.
Here’s how you can begin your journey back to the feeling console, embracing your entire emotional self with the help of Affect Relational Theory (A.R.T.) :
1. Recognize All Affects/Emotions
The 'feeling console' is a metaphor for your emotional center, where all your feelings and affects are processed and managed. It's a crucial part of your emotional well-being, where you can gain control over your emotional responses and understand the root of your feelings. Just like a control panel in a cockpit, your feeling console helps you navigate your emotional experiences.
Are you curious about your own feeling console? Schedule a complimentary consultation ?
In A.R.T., it's crucial to distinguish between affects and emotions. Affects, such as joy, fear, or anger, are biologically based feeling states that cannot be controlled. On the other hand, emotions are the complex experiences that arise from these affects, like happiness, anxiety, or rage, and can be managed. This understanding empowers us to navigate our emotional lives more effectively, recognizing the root of our feelings and taking control of them, instilling a sense of empowerment and confidence in our emotional journey.
2. Understand the Affects
A.R.T. breaks down our experiences into fundamental affects, which are the building blocks of our emotional responses. These affects have evolved to make experiences feel important, guiding our behaviors and interactions. For example, the feeling of self-consciousness, part of the shame family, often underlies feelings of inadequacy. By identifying and understanding these core affects, we can more precisely address their impact on our mental health and relationships.
3. Embrace Self-Consciousness
Self-consciousness, a significant factor in our self-perception and interactions, is not just about how we think others see us but also about how we see ourselves. Embracing self-consciousness allows us to confront shame and self-doubt, leading to greater self-acceptance and authenticity. In A.R.T., promoting genuine emotional expression over the faking of emotions is crucial for maintaining clear communication and healthy relationships, making you feel more understood and accepted in your emotional experiences.
Ready to embrace your self-consciousness and unlock your true potential? Schedule a complimentary consultation ?
4. Developing Emotional Resilience
A.R.T. provides tools to manage and transform our affective and emotional experiences by understanding and regulating our affects. Recognizing affects as ordinary and necessary reactions is critical. Affects act as triggers that prompt us to pay attention to our environment, but we don't necessarily need to act on them impulsively. For instance, anger is a normal reaction to feeling overwhelmed and perceiving that something needs to stop. The intensity of anger often makes it seem like immediate action is required. However, it is crucial to understand that responding thoughtfully to the cause of the affect is a choice.
By acknowledging the affect of anger and identifying its trigger, you can choose how to respond effectively. Instead of reacting with more anger, you can address the underlying problem constructively. This principle applies to all affects—understanding and responding to their triggers allows for better emotional management, making us more in tune with our emotional responses and in control of our reactions, giving you a sense of control over your emotional responses and the power to shape your emotional experiences.
Developing emotional resilience involves contextualizing our affective experiences through appropriate cognitive frameworks. This helps us enhance personal goals and make ethical decisions. For example, recognizing what brings us joy or causes us shame can reveal much about our personality and guide us in making better life choices. By thoughtfully responding to our affects, we can resolve underlying issues and improve our overall emotional well-being. This resilience enables us to navigate life's challenges more quickly and confidently.
Join the Journey
I'm excited to announce a series of interactive workshops and webinars to help you reconnect with your feeling console and embrace your entire emotional self. These sessions will delve into the principles of A.R.T. and provide practical strategies for managing affects, improving relationships, and achieving personal growth.
Stay Connected
Follow me on LinkedIn for more insights on A.R.T., and stay tuned for upcoming events. Let's embark on this journey together and return to our feeling consoles with our whole selves.
By integrating the familiar and engaging framework of "Inside Out" with the principles of A.R.T., we can empower individuals to take control of their emotional health and build stronger, more fulfilling relationships. Reconnect with your affects today and discover the transformative power of A.R.T.
Ready to reconnect with your feeling console and unlock your full emotional potential??
Schedule a consultation today to embark on your journey towards emotional empowerment.
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Dr. Scott Conkright Psychologist & Founder of Affect Relational Theory and Meaningful Happiness scottconkright.com [email protected]