Psychology of Stress, Resilience, Emotion & Child Development | Stephen Sideroff | 156
May 3, 2024
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Clinical psychologist Stephen Sideroff discusses childhood psychology, stress, resilience, emotions, and child development. Topics include Gestalt psychology, emotional regulation, building resilience, dietary impact on emotions, and transformative experiences with plant medicine.
Expressing suppressed emotions can lead to assertiveness and self-awareness in therapy sessions.
Gestalt therapy focuses on processing blocked emotions to improve emotional well-being and self-expression.
Anxiety signals unmet emotional needs; exploring and addressing underlying emotions can initiate self-discovery and healing.
Deep dives
Understanding the Influence of Unprocessed Emotions on Behavior
Unprocessed emotions can impact behavior significantly. For example, a client who suppressed anger towards his controlling mother experienced timidity and anxiety in various life situations. Through therapy, by visualizing his mother in the therapy room and expressing suppressed anger, the client started to become more assertive and recognize the importance of owning his feelings.
Gestalt Therapy: Addressing Unexpressed Emotions for Emotional Homeostasis
In Gestalt therapy, the focus is on identifying and processing unexpressed emotions to achieve emotional balance. By acknowledging and releasing blocked emotions, individuals can overcome patterns of avoidance and anxiety, leading to improved emotional well-being and authentic self-expression. Gestalt formation and destruction help individuals break maladaptive patterns and foster adaptive emotional responses.
Recognizing Anxiety as a Clue to Unmet Emotional Needs
Anxiety often signifies unmet emotional needs or unprocessed feelings. The experience of anxiety can serve as a signal to investigate and address underlying emotions that demand completion. By paying attention to anxiety symptoms and exploring the discomfort associated with unexpressed emotions, individuals can begin the process of self-discovery and emotional healing.
Resolving Internal Emotional Issues to Uncover Deeper Insights
Exploring unresolved emotions through sentence completion exercises can unveil underlying feelings of anger or sadness, illuminating deeper aspects of the individual's internal landscape. By acknowledging initial symptoms of distress and consciously delving into their roots, individuals can shift their focus towards understanding and addressing the core emotional contributors, facilitating a process of introspective discovery and emotional growth.
Embracing Resilience Instead of Merely Managing Stress
The podcast introduces a comprehensive model of resilience highlighting stress as a fundamental modulator of emotional balance and physical health. By emphasizing optimal functioning over stress management, the model encourages individuals to cultivate resilience by bouncing forward from challenges, rather than returning to baseline. Through the nine pillars of resilience, the focus extends beyond mere recovery, aiming to enhance adaptability and capability, fostering a growth mindset and proactive engagement with stressors for continuous personal development and increased coping abilities.
About the guest: Stephen Sideroff, PhD is a clinical psychologist and Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at UCLA. His new book is, "The 9 Pillars of Resilience."
Episode summary: Nick and Dr. Sideroff discuss: childhood & developmental psychology; clinical & Gestalt psychology; stress & resilience; pharmaceuticals, talk therapy, and plant medicines; emotions & psychopathology; and more.
*This content is never meant to serve as medical advice.
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