Cognitive-Behavioral therapists work on the premise that emotions are difficult to change directly, and so they target the thoughts (I must be perfect in everything or else I will be a failure) and behaviors (constant frowning) that are contributing to the bad feelings (depressive moods) and behaviors (self-defeating behaviors like irrationally insulting one’s boss). This approach works.
But there is a more direct way to change bad feelings---and in the process change the bad thinking associated with the bad feelings.
Based on the research of neuroscientist Antonio Damasio on affect, a therapy has been developed that can directly access various feeling states. Further, feelings, good to bad, pleasant to unpleasant, can be deliberately manipulated not only to yield sustainable good feelings, but also to upgrade thought processes.
Specifically, feeling states can be purposefully accessed that upgrade the thought processes in the following ways: increase motivation (the usual choice, or diminish it for dieting or drug-addiction purposes); enhance the number and variety of consciously available ideas; improve multiple-perspective thinking; heighten creativity; upgrade pattern recognition; create mental states that feature calm, unbiased, empathic attention, interest and curiosity---ideal for decision-making and mindfulness practices.
With the new NET therapy, it was found that feelings don’t have to last very long to lead to successful outcomes that not only create instant good feelings, but also create sustainable good feelings.
All feelings have valence: they have some degree of pleasantness or unpleasantness, and some degree of arousal. That is the only mental information in a feeling. The rest of what is experienced as a feeling comes from the ways we assign meaning to it via learned concepts. Feelings push us to either approach, accept, tolerate or avoid any instant external object or internal thought or state. Every single thing we think, say, do, hear, write, desire, fear, create, learn, hate, decide, evaluate, remember, fantasize, plan, or dream of is obviously, or subtly, accompanied by a feeling.
Feelings range from very good to moderately good to very bad. It turns out that specific levels of feeling provide the foundation for certain types of thinking. For example, the mid-range between good and bad feelings (that is, a feeling level that feels quite good, but not necessarily with ecstasy or elation) provides the feeling-foundation for calm attention, non-judgmental acceptance, interest and curiosity---ideal for what we call a “mindfulness” state. Why not super-good feelings? Because super-good feelings are good for brainstorming---but not for critical thinking. When people feel elated or joyous, they produce a lot of ideas---but many are inaccurate.
The “mindfulness” state can be seen as an attitude, and an attitude consists of thoughts, motor reactions, and a feeling. That feeling is a compassionate-tinged empathy, a powerful approach FEELNG that creates a felt acceptance for all things as they are, including oneself. The mindfulness attitude could not exist as an UNFELT thought or behavior.
The therapy we speak of is called Neuro-Experiential Therapy or NET. The word “neuro” indicates the fact that NET is based on research in neuroscience, and “experiential” points to the fact that it makes use of instantly-created experiences, for example, the experience of being interested in something.
If you are interested in how feelings can be accessed and used, either in therapy or in your own ongoing life, I urge you to read my book: “What You Don’t Know About Feelings.” A homestudy course (10 Continuing Education credits) based on the book is also available for mental health professionals.