Our EmotionsMiss. Hattendorf

Understanding our Emotions

• Emotions: Signals that tell your mind and body how to react.

• Referred to as feelings—responses to certain thoughts and events

• Emotions affect all sides of your healthy triangle

Identifying Your Emotions

• Hormone: Chemical secreted by your glands that regulates the activities of different body cells

• Hormones may cause a swing between extreme emotions

• Being able to identify your feelings is the first step in knowing how to respond in a healthy way

Happiness

• Being satisfied or feeling positive• You usually feel energetic, creative, and sociable

Sadness

• Normal, healthy reaction to difficult events• It can range from being disappointed or rejected to

experiencing the loss of a loved one• You may feel easily discouraged and have less energy

Love

• Strong affection, deep concern, and respect• Supporting the growth and individual needs of another

person and respecting that person’s boundaries and values• Can be expressed through words or actions

Empathy

• Ability to imagine and understand how someone else feels

• You feel connected to another person’s emotions

Fear

• When you are startled by someone or something• Feelings of fear can increase your alertness and help you

escape from potentially harmful situations

Guilt

• Acting against one’s values or from failing to act when action might have brought about a better outcome

• Guilt can eat at you, or your conscience can motivate you to make positive changes in your behavior

Anger

• Common reaction to being emotionally hurt or physically harmed

• When not handled in a constructive way it can result in violence

Responding to Your Emotions

• Pick an emotion that you have had to deal with in the past.• Use the following strategies for interpreting and responding

to this emotion• 1. Look below the surface of your emotion. Ask yourself:

What am I really reacting to?• 2. Consider whether or not the situation to which you are

reacting with matter?• 3. Don’t take action on a strong feeling until you have

considered the consequences. What could the consequences entail?

Managing Difficult Emotions

• Defense Mechanisms: Mental processes that protect individuals from strong or stressful emotions and situations

• Common Defense Mechanisms• Suppression: Holding back or restraining• Repression: involuntary pushing• Rationalization: making excuses

Common Defense Mechanisms

• Regression: Reverting to behaviors that are more early stage of development instead of being mature

• Denial: Unconscious lack of acknowledgment• Compensation: Gift-giving• Projection: Own feelings or faults to another person• Idealization: Seeing someone else as perfect

Cartoon BookThe emotional cartoon booklet.