Some more questions on emotions and hpct:
I. When asked to describe what emotion they are experiencing,
some people are very good at doing this and others are very poor.
Some possilbe sources of this difference in HPCT terms:
(1) input functions--it is possible that people differ with
respect to the input functions available to perceive emotions. If
this is the case, then educational experiences designed to
foster input function acquisition must be given.
(2) language skills--it is possible that people differ with
respect to the language skills available to describe emotional
experiences. If this is so, then the educational experiences
should address the specific deficit found. I am mostly thinking
about vocabulary deficits. There could be some kind of deficits
in which a person does not easily describe any kinds of
experiences.
(3) awareness--it is possible that people differ with respect to
how readily they become aware of perceptual signals. Awareness of
emotional perceptual signals seems like a prerequisite for
talking about them.
(4) conflict--it is possible that people differ with respect to
the OKness to become aware of emotions or to express emotions
verbally. Therapists influenced by psychoanalysis talk about
defenses.
II. How important is it for people in therapy to talk about their
emotions?
Most therapists think it is pretty important but the rationale
for this is not really spelled out. The HPCT rationale might be
that talking about it requires one to focus awareness on it which
is necessary for significant change to take place in control
systems.
III. How important is it for people in therapy to experience
strong emotions in therapy in order for them to change?
There is less agreement about the importance of this. My
favorite therapist, Alvin Mahrer, thinks it is very important.
His therapy approach involves a person becomeing aware of "deeper
potentials" for being/behaving(step1) which is more likely to
happen when a person brings the scene alive emotionally,
reframing the deeper potential in a positive way(step 2) in order
to reduce a person's negative emotions towards the deeper
potential, reliving past episodes involving the deeper potential
as it is now being interpreted(step 3), and projecting oneself
into present or future episodes in which the deeper potential is
operating(step 4).
IV. When a person remembers something, emotion is part of the
memory. I can remember the way I felt during a specific incident
sometimes. When I think of a particular person, I remember
whether I like or don't like that person.
However, when we are remembering the emotional aspects, it does
not seem the same as when we experienced the incident. For
example, I can remember that I was in pain after a certain
accident but I do not relive the pain.
For some of my patients, some of the time, this is not so. When
they remember some incidents, they actually experience it. This
can be very scary until the person understands that it is a
memory and is not rehappening. All of us probably experience
dreams in this way. They seem real.
Using Alvin Mahrer's therapy appraoch, it is possilbe to help a
person relive an experience rather than just remember it in a
nonemotional way. This happens when a person is asked to be
very detailed in the scene descriptions.
ยทยทยท
To: CSG-L members
From: David Goldstein
Subject: More on hpct and emotions
Date: 09/16/93