Feelings

[Guest guest]

OK, let me see if I finally understand.

It is OK for me to feel angry and hateful and upset, even though

those feelings are supposed to be " BAD " . I don't have to feel guilty

for having those feelings and I don't have worry about having them,

and I can still move forward with my life.

When I was tapering off of my Med's I was always telling myself as

soon as I was done I would need to go back into therapy to learn how

to not let these things bother me, And how to get rid of all the

thoughts and feelings I was having. So just by thinking this I set

myself up, and by going to therapy to get rid of this crap I just

made it more important, and probably worse.

Society tells us that anger, hate, rage are all bad and we shouldn't

have those feelings. What is wrong with having those feelings as long

as there is no violence involved?

Am I making sense?

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Greg

[Guest guest]

The point is to have those feelings and any others

without buying into them necessarily. What you DO with feelings

is a matter of values not just programming

However, if you do the same with thoughts

you will find that many feelings are the product of

fused thought. Anger, for example, is oftem accompanied by

"I'm right" or "that was wrong." Defusion does not mean

"that wasn't wrong -- it was right" -- it means

just noticing the evaluative thoughts and coming back to values

and action.

This work thus does tend to move feelings. A lot.

Anger, anxiety, depression etc all tend to go down.

Acceptance does not mean buying into these feelings.

it means feeing them AS feelings ... and thinking thoughts

AS thoughts

mindfully

Then behaving in accord with what you value

- S

C.

Foundation Professor

Department of Psychology /298

University of Nevada

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From: ACT_for_the_Public [mailto:ACT_for_the_Public ] On Behalf Of gregpeerySent: Tuesday, January 17, 2006 11:33 AMTo: ACT_for_the_Public Subject: Feelings

OK, let me see if I finally understand. It is OK for me to feel angry and hateful and upset, even though those feelings are supposed to be "BAD". I don't have to feel guilty for having those feelings and I don't have worry about having them, and I can still move forward with my life.When I was tapering off of my Med's I was always telling myself as soon as I was done I would need to go back into therapy to learn how to not let these things bother me, And how to get rid of all the thoughts and feelings I was having. So just by thinking this I set myself up, and by going to therapy to get rid of this crap I just made it more important, and probably worse. Society tells us that anger, hate, rage are all bad and we shouldn't have those feelings. What is wrong with having those feelings as long as there is no violence involved?Am I making sense?Any thoughts would be appreciated.Greg