Basic Emotions

1. Basic Emotions Emotions: Signals that tell your mind and body how to react Hormones: Chemicals produced by the body that regulate the activity of the cells Ex. Adrenaline

2. Basic Emotions Happiness: Being satisfied and feeling positive Sadness: Feeling disappointed. A normal reaction to different life events Love: Strong affection, deep concern, and respect are expressions of love.

3. Basic Emotions Fear: Feeling startled or threatened by something or someone. Guilt: Shame and regret when you go against your values. Anger: When not handled well it can lead to violence. Hostility: intentional use of offensive behavior.

4. Basic Emotions Empathy: Understanding how someone else feels.

5. Defense Mechanisms A mental process that protects individuals from strong or stressful emotions.

6. Defense Mechanisms Regression Regression is the reversion to an earlier stage of development in the face of unacceptable thoughts or impulses. An adult may regress when under a great deal of stress, refusing to leave their bed and engage in normal, everyday activities.

7. Defense Mechanisms Repression Repression is the unconsciousblocking of unacceptable thoughts, feelings and impulses. The key to repression is that people do it unconsciously, so they often have very little control over it. Suppression Consciouslyand intentionally pushing unpleasant feeling out of one’s mind.

8. Defense Mechanisms Denial Denial is the refusal to accept reality or fact, acting as if a painful event, thought or feeling did not exist. Many people use denial in their everyday lives to avoid dealing with painful feelings or areas of their life they don’t wish to admit. For instance, a person who is a functioning alcoholic will often simply deny they have a drinking problem, pointing to how well they function in their job and relationships.

9. Defense Mechanisms Projection Projection is the misattribution of a person’s undesired thoughts, feelings or impulses onto another person who does not have those thoughts, feelings or impulses. For example, a spouse may be angry at their significant other for not listening, when in fact it is the angry spouse who does not listen.

10. Defense Mechanisms Rationalization Rationalization is putting something into a different light or offering a different explanation for one’s perceptions or behaviors in the face of a changing reality. For instance, a player who really wants to make the baseball team is cut. So, they rationalize the emotion of being cut by saying “I really didn’t want to be on that team anyway.”

11. Defense Mechanisms Compensation Compensation is a process of counterbalancing perceived weaknesses by emphasizing strength in other arenas. By emphasizing and focusing on one’s strengths, a person is recognizing they cannot be strong at all things and in all areas in their lives. For instance, when a person says, “I may not know how to cook, but I can sure do the dishes!,” they’re trying to compensate for their lack of cooking skills by emphasizing their cleaning skills instead. When done appropriately and not in an attempt to over-compensate, compensation is defense mechanism that helps reinforce a person’s self-esteem and self-image.

12. Assignment Write a poem describing a situation that was emotional for you. Tell how you managed your emotion in a healthful way Draw a picture to accompany your poem that represents how you were feeling at that time