The Healthy Person: How to manage negative emotions?

Join us to demystify one factor of human existence – emotions! Grounded in lifespan development psychology, we believe that Life Changes and Transitions are growth gateways across the human life course. Changes affect human beings evenly and represent an opportunity for psychological growth or risk of psychological declines throughout the lifespan.

However, change and growth are not synonymous. A person can change in ways that impede or stop development. Change to be considered development individuals must perform a movement towards a greater realisation of their potential— a process involving the acquisition of new skills, the perpetuation of self-awareness and the clarification of one’s values and purpose. The movement has been coined as Self-actualisation by Abraham Maslow, yet also called the fully matured person, healthy, authentic, individuated, or productive individual.

A definition of a healthy person relates to the way for a person to act, guided by intelligence and respect for life so that their needs are satisfied and they grow in awareness, competence, and the capacity to love. It is capable of direct awareness of their perceptions and feelings rather than engaging chronically in abstract thinking, in recall or wishful or anxious imagination. They can trust themselves to be spontaneous in action - and action needs knowledge of emotion. (S. M. Jourard)

A. Maslow’s describes both the fully evolved human being and the well-growing human being. Some measurable characteristics of the healthy human being specimen are (in p. 148):

1. Clear, more efficient perception of reality.
2. More openness to experience
3. Increased integration, wholeness, expressiveness, full functioning aliveness
4. A real self; a firm identity; autonomy, uniqueness.
5. Increased objectivity, detachment, transcendence of self.
6. Recovery of creativeness
7. Ability to fuse concreteness and abstractness.
8. Democratic character structure.
9. Ability to love, etc.

EMOTIONAL MANAGEMENT: Emotions and Self-awareness

Emotions have a Social function, and their expression is key to healthy social interactions, as they serve a cognitive purpose that interferes directly with decision-making processes.

Emotions produce changes in the brain as in the autonomous nervous system to instantly mobilise for action, as it sends signals such as alterations in facial expressions, voice, and body postures. Our emotions guide us when we have to face situations or tasks that are too important to be left to the intellect alone, such as danger, heartbreaks, persisting in the pursuit of a grudging goal, connecting with a partner or create a family.

Emotions are basic impulses to act, by definition, emotions are a brief, unbidden, cross-species, coherent, fast, and automatic appraisal, usually, arise without awareness of the complex evaluative process involved; Emotions possess typical stimuli, response patterns and courses, and don’t require consciousness. Feelings, however, involves consciousness (self-awareness). 

Here at believe-IN, we do not do small talk, nor do we take part in the nonsensical banter that we must suppress our emotions. Now, what you do need to do is to manage your emotion. I call your best attention to the keyword, manage. But to manage emotion, one must undertake a learning path in adulthood (not taught earlier) to understand how to a) recognise, b) identify, c) label and d) express it appropriately in a civilized manner. Emotions have no concern about our social norms or unhealthy conformity or lack of knowledge. Nor do they concern about others inability to acknowledge our emotions to change the harmful behaviours; emotions will arise and be aroused, instigating you to think and act. In reality, emotions are a piece of information you must collect to assess your environment and make decisions that protect you and your human potential. So, let us talk about 'emotions' openly, shall we? It is your health, functioning and success that are at risk. 

We take an objective, knowledge-based and assertive approach to emotions based on the neurosciences cognitive theories of emotions. To be a Human Being is to have Biology, Cognitions and Emotions. Our role is to put this together - integrate. By becoming fully-functioning we achieve our full potential. Regrettably, we don't find instructions often about this, but that is all right. That is why believe-IN exists! To assist you in learning to Make It Happen!

Join us and Learn! We create a safe space for learning.

believe-IN. Make it Happen!®

The Facilitator of Change to Individuals and Organisations in Transitions!

believe-IN offers Change and Transition Intervention Programmes, Appointments, Psychometric Tests and Learning Events. We work with both individuals and organizations, online, in Portuguese, English and Spanish, worldwide. Arrange your first free 30-min consultation appointment on our website and find out how we can support you, www.believein.uk/book-online