EMOTIONAL TOOLS
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Defense Mechanisms
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Defense Mechanisms
I CAN REST IN MY WOUNDS AND STILL FEEL WHOLE
In order to adapt to painful experiences, we adopt certain defense measures that seemingly protect our sense of self but ultimately, impede our progress to transform. These protective skills work to shelter painful experiences as a safety precaution and contain emotional energy that otherwise, would move with fluidity and important information. Essentially, these psychological strategies or defense mechanisms screen out unpleasant events, actions, thoughts and feelings so that we don’t have to actually experience them. They put distance between perceived emotional threats or unwanted feelings, like guilt or shame, to maintain some semblance of emotional stability. The assumption is that defensive measures help us cope in the moment but without conscious effort to emotionally disarm, they derail us from shifting hurtful experiences and dysfunction into long term balance and overall happiness.
In general, we don’t consciously choose to respond defensively, meaning we don’t decide what we’ll do when we do it. That’s why it can be so confusing why patterns repeat and things don’t seem to work out, no matter how hard we work toward wholeness. Healing rests in the courage to shift. So, it’s important to bring to light the distortions disguised in defense mechanisms. The personal exploration can help you understand how these psychological structures may have seemingly helped preserve emotional stability as best you could, under the delicate circumstances you endured. You may also find some insight into reverse engineering the defensive stance into a more compassionate shift into healing.
In general, we don’t consciously choose to respond defensively, meaning we don’t decide what we’ll do when we do it. That’s why it can be so confusing why patterns repeat and things don’t seem to work out, no matter how hard we work toward wholeness. Healing rests in the courage to shift. So, it’s important to bring to light the distortions disguised in defense mechanisms. The personal exploration can help you understand how these psychological structures may have seemingly helped preserve emotional stability as best you could, under the delicate circumstances you endured. You may also find some insight into reverse engineering the defensive stance into a more compassionate shift into healing.
10 Common Defense Mechanism- PDF
*Please note the list only contains 10 most common defense mechanisms, there are more not listed here.
*Please note the list only contains 10 most common defense mechanisms, there are more not listed here.
| common_defese_mechanisims.pdf |
DISCOVERY EXERCISE:
1- Identify which ones you use and might fall back on as a default defense.
2- Observe what situations you might use each one and see if you can find a common emotional thread you might be protecting.
3- Think about how you might reverse engineer unconscious patterning into a healthier way of responding, with yourself, with others, and/or situations.
1- Identify which ones you use and might fall back on as a default defense.
2- Observe what situations you might use each one and see if you can find a common emotional thread you might be protecting.
3- Think about how you might reverse engineer unconscious patterning into a healthier way of responding, with yourself, with others, and/or situations.
Love,
Jennifer
Emotional Concepts & Tools, 3/23/2021
#HealingRestsintheCouragetoShift #EmotionalStabilitytakesCourage #BePresentinHealthierWays
Jennifer
Emotional Concepts & Tools, 3/23/2021
#HealingRestsintheCouragetoShift #EmotionalStabilitytakesCourage #BePresentinHealthierWays
