When client’s come into therapy, it’s very common for them to have goals which are about feeling states. They might say ‘I feel depressed’ or ‘I feel anxious’ and when asked what they want to have happen they may respond with ‘I want to feel happy’ or ‘I want to be calm’ or ‘I want to feel confident.’
Oftentimes clients are not aware there are quite a number of ways they can impact their feeling states, in addition to doing the deeper therapeutic work that has drawn them into therapy.
Here’s an article I wrote a while back which offers six ways to shift your emotional state. They are:
Change where you are looking
Move
Use your breathing
Come to your senses
Use memories
Draw on others’ wisdom inside you
Trying out different approaches and discovering which work for you can be a first step in taking back some power and control over your own well-being.
Here’s the article for more depth on this:
