CBT for Emotion Regulation

Emotion regulation is the ability to modulate emotions. The act of regulating emotions can be broken down into three main components:

Reducing triggers of emotion. This refers to being able to experience a triggering event without an upsurge in negative emotion.

Reducing the intensity of emotion. Once triggered, emotion regulation functions to keep the emotion at a manageable level of intensity rather than reaching a state that increases the likelihood of being overwhelmed.

Reducing the duration of emotion. Emotion regulation works to bring the emotion back down to baseline after the peak of emotion.

Emotion Dysregulation

Most emotion regulation skills are learned as part of normal adult development. However, a number of factors can result in persistent emotion dysregulation, interrupting the course of emotional development:

Trauma. There is a high correlation between emotion dysregulation and past trauma. Trauma can interrupt healthy emotional development in a number of ways, including increasing sensitivity to emotional triggers and interrupting cognitive functioning when triggered.

Invalidation from the environment. People who grow up in persistently invalidating environments learn to distrust or ignore their emotional cues, resulting in not being able to intervene with intense emotions.

Biological sensitivity. Some people are born more sensitive to emotional triggers. Brain imaging studies have confirmed there can be significant differences in the structure and functioning of parts of the brain responsible for emotion.

CBT Treatment for Emotion Regulation

Emotion regulation treatment typically is comprised of four sets of CBT interventions. Sometimes, people only need one or two of them, and other times, they need all four.

Mindfulness
Mindfulness is a core component of CBT for emotion regulation. It teaches people to identify their emotions before they get too intense to control. It also helps with cognitive control strategies, teaching people not to fixate on ways of thinking that only increase feeling overwhelmed.

Distress Tolerance
Distress tolerance refers to accepting and working with unpleasant emotions and urges instead of denying or avoiding them.

Emotion Regulation Training
This set of skills mainly teaches people to reduce vulnerability to negative emotions and to modulate emotions when they become too intense or last too long.

Interpersonal Effectiveness
Emotion regulation isn’t merely an internal process; it can take external forms. Sometimes, the most effective strategy for regulating an intense emotion is to make changes in the environment. Interpersonal effectiveness skills help people learn to do this.

CBT for emotion regulation can be the focus of individual therapy or DBT group therapy. Click on the button below for a free phone consultation to determine whether CBT for emotion regulation is right for you.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Los Angeles is a therapy practice of expert psychologists with the highest level of training and experience in providing evidence-based treatment. Click the button below to ask a question or schedule a consultation to determine whether CBT is right for you.