People Wish to Change Their Emotional Life,

¶ … people wish to change their emotional life, what attitude was recommended regarding connecting with past events?

Everyone has a past that is complex and cannot be defined in a way that can be easily communicated. The past has a significant effect on how we feel in the present. Although we cannot easily define our past, it can define us and how we think about ourselves and others. Throughout our life, we accumulate experiences that evoke a certain feelings. The events themselves are no longer a part of our life, but the feelings that they evoked remain with us for the rest of our lives in shape how we feel today and how we will feel in the future. We cannot change the past, but we can change how we feel about the past. If we change the way we feel about the past, we develop coping skills that can help us respond better in our present (Plutchik, p. 132 ). Reinterpreting the past will help us to understand our present emotions and to develop coping skills that will be needed in the future.

2. Give an example of a metaphor that you might use to help a client describe a complex emotion they frequently experience.

Emotions are complex and include both verbal and nonverbal components. Sometimes emotions are difficult to describe, particularly when they involve subconscious interpretations of events. They may evoke physical reactions that the patient but may not recognize or have sufficient words to describe. Feelings are subjective and up to the interpretation of the individual. When words fail, metaphors can be used to help facilitate communication about feelings ((Plutchik, p. 133). For example, depression can be described as a dark cloud that follows someone around all the time. Joy can be described as a bubbly feeling. A person's internal dialogue is like an annoying roommate that follows you around constantly chattering in your ear and will not leave you alone.

3. Based on your readings what was recommended regarding the sharing of feelings by a therapist during therapy (i.e., a form of self-disclosure in therapy)? What limits do you place on this issue?