Moods, Emotions & the Body in Counselling

by Dr Rob McNeilly

The world renowned authority Maturana says that emotions are domains of action or predispositions to action, inviting us to a whole world of additional observations and actions. By asking "what actions are we predisposed to take in any particular emotion?" we have the opportunity to make observations about the way emotions are "done" so they are less nebulous, and by asking "What actions would generate a more desired emotion?" we can provide a direct connection with the possibility of a client experiencing this emotion.

Any additional way we can find of observing our clients' experience will contribute to what we have to offer them.

Just as language can create future experiences, not merely describe past ones, so emotions can also be created, not merely described or expressed.

Sometimes when we have an emotional experience, we can identify a triggering event and other times we can't. In this programme we are going to differentiate these by calling the former emotions, and the latter moods.

This is a practical move, since it can relief everyone of much searching for a triggering event when none is apparent, in the case of a mood.

We can classify moods and emotions into unwanted ones such as anger, fear, sadness and those that are more desirable.

We can further differentiate within each cluster of emotions, further finer observations which will assist us to connect with individual clients' experiences and more effectively design more useful emotions with them.
These classifications are contained in "Healing the Whole Person".

By exploring the action component of moods and emotions, they become more doable, more accessible, and so more useful in creating solutions.

Moods tend to be more pervasive and vague, and we tend to live in a predominant cluster. Rafael Echeverria presents the following poetic diagram and I invite you to observe your own experience and those of your clients in relation to it.

Some thoughts about solution emotions

These solution emotions will appear as emotions that are missing for a client when they are experiencing a problem. By exploring the action aspect of these preferred emotions, they become more accessible. Instead of a client trying to "just accept" a situation, which might seem a giant step for some, by exploring with each client how they might "do" acceptance, the steps are revealed by the client for their own use, and so the process of acceptance, for example, becomes a process which they can begin to approach without overwhelming paralysis.

If a client is troubled by resentment and wants to let it go, we can acknowledge the importance of the past damage, ask about the current importance [it may have been very important then and not now], and ask how the client would rather feel. If they prefer acceptance or forgiveness, we can then explore how they have "done" those emotions in the past, how they may be beginning to "do" them now, and how they will know that they have "done" them in the future.

If a client is grieving, and wants to move beyond this completely legitimate emotion, we can ask about what has been helpful in their accepting previous losses, and so, reconnect them with this ability. If a client is in despair, we can sit with them, not offering any assistance, since they are already resigned to there being none, and begin to invite them to consider the possibility of some help and watch for the earliest signs of them acknowledging this possibility so we can then offer to be with them as a support so they can begin to accept the loss.

The Body in Counselling

The body has been overlooked by mainstream counselling, and body therapists who are very aware of the body tend to use their observations and interventions to access problem states, emotions and memories.

We have already explored the action outcomes of questions, moods and emotions. We can now begin to explore the body as an additional area of observation and source of solutions.

By observing the body, we can move beyond mere observations about body posture, body movement, body language, and look to generate yet another domain of observing, design and interactions. By examining the embodiment of emotions or experiences, we can move beyond the idea of "reading" someone's body language by decoding some supposed universal language, and generate the possibility of directly influencing the context or background of the "problem" and by shifting its ground, we may be able to transform it or dissolve it.

The body is the direct route to moods, and by learning how to observe and shift our body, yet another whole world of possibilities appear.

We can consider the body as the embodiment of language, emotions, conversations, experiences, accumulated learnings. This appears very closely aligned with Erickson's notion of 'the unconscious' as a vast storehouse of accumulated life experiences and wisdom to draw on. We know from our everyday experiences that memories can trigger bodily reactions - the thought of food can be associated with salivation and stomach rumblings; the memory of an absent lover can lead to a change in bodily circulation, the idea of meditating can itself begin to generate the body sensations of preparing to meditate, or even the meditation experience itself. We also know that much of our learning has become automatic, and our body responds without the need for our awareness - signing our name, putting the car keys in the ignition, dialling a familiar phone number - all of these and a large range of other actions are experienced as if they are a direct expression of a body process. It really is as if the body just does what it does.

If we look for it, we can notice that certain emotions are associated with certain body positions. It follows that certain body positions can be associated with certain emotions. By observing the body, we can not only make speculative interpretations about the emotions that individual may be experiencing, we can also generate the possibility of shifting the body position to facilitate more desirable emotions which will then allow for the actions which constitute the solution the person is wanting.