x reriens ial. These {clings are a part ofiing. Fortunately. you. can learn better ways.to.deal.with your emotions nd the evens that cause them. Contnuinga pattern of repressng these feelings (or “holding them down’) is. larmful. 2A good first step is to admit that you are human and do experience them! Then.you can seek help from a counselor or good friends in learni lerstand and deal with them, It may surprise you that other people have known you were human all along! In other words, you Probably have been fooling nobody but yourself. Youmay find it. comforting to learn that others hhad the same issues, and have learned better ways to deal with them. People find it hard to get close to someone wi lin Since mos x have their lives under feel a little y i lust as most of us occas lp from our friends, most of us like to be helpful to others, and to enjoy some give-and-take in our relationships. 3 Asyouadimicthe realty chat chings arent perfect, you will experience the comfortof being honest and receiving the support and help of others. if it were true. Sadly,itisn't. b ini son can.be.wery helpful inife, and.can.even.keep youhealthier. However,-denying reality js harmful, occur ineverylife. We allhaveafew unresolved problems.or future.concemns. There is little benefit ial i ues! \cisagoalof.recovery.to become stronger and/ess.emationally vulnerable. Todo this.you will need toface-your-fears_and problems. While reading this workbook, you may even have experienced anxiety, a sense of confusion, and other forms of discomfort. Don'tbe afraid of these feelings, or try to avoid them, They are a very good sign! Take the opportunity to talk about ‘what you are feeling, and what sorts of problems may be causing them. You can make significant progress toward leading a happier and healthier life. ‘ANow Frooéom +© AR. Phoonx Rosouras, ne. + 1995-2017 - wun. newheedomorograms com Page 8 ope w2O ay “No ‘ouphsu 0 oyun 5 wed en Hed fue o vou UoRNaENG AxUnURUOD SjbeIOg yo WeULEdag SEEE0UUD} 9 6 e=UED) O88 apunAn important part of emotional growth occurs when we.begin to identify and experience our “ealings. Typical, we have notallowed ourselves a.xperience them. We have stuffed ther, ised alcohol, drugs (legal and illegal), or used other behaviors to.reduce our uncomfortable “symptoms. Typically, we have self-medicated almost instantly (the “quick fi") upon experiencing, discomfort. ‘The price we pay for this is considerable. get rid of vfortable, fe may have theillusion thatthe problemas gone t00. esa solved. tis stil there and we are still uinerable. This vulnerabil d directly to relapse. m i ‘we may not have identified the link between our symptoms and feelings, either. % Was 52 food stars to examine some of your uncomfortable feelings (Complete the chart below) inadequate fearful worthless, inferior confused ‘AN Freedom +© AR. Phoenix Resouces, Inc + 1995-2017 - wn enteedemerograms com Page 9 ued a ved fue oven “SENN feuuKOD SuORDeHID Jo WaKedaG SeeseLNAL mC =LsD] Sys B90 aE pL WEBS SL “sano eos 9640pFeelings How often do you feel this way? How powerful are these feelings? How long do these feelings last not very capable uniovable lonely empty rejected or abandoned unhappy sad feelings below: Place a check "v next to the four (4) which cause you the greatest discomfort. List those four ‘Anew Freedom +©AR. Phoona Resouces, Ie. + 19952017 - www newtresomprogeams.com + Page 10 smu nue) 611 2: i j j | ejeunn wound seseuie j i i “amo #6088 sug pou = wesbond ta jo ved Ave 0 uoanaCoping with Persistlent Symptoms- Distraction Distraction is a surprisingly effective technique for changing your mood. For example, place a c|’heck mark by any of the following you have felt: Depressed and sad Hopeless or worthless Anxious, nervous, or aprehensive ‘Agitated or angry Invincible, like nothing could possibly harm you pun ogerene peu sweat Sut Manic— so energetic you can't even sleep Empty, guilty, or hating yourself Violent oooo00000 ‘These feelings. or moods, can lead to very harmful behavior and can get you in trouble. “When " 3 mood-by.distracting yourself. that-you-willforgeryourself. Here's an example: Roger is thinking about his past. It was bad. Whenever Roger thinks about his past he just igets madder and madder. He can't stop thinking about all the bad things that happened to him~ how unfair iti, how his own mother let him down, how screwed up he is. Eventually, Roger gets so mad he does something violent. So on days when Roger realizes that he can’t stop thinking about the past and that he's really starting to get mad, he distracts his thoughts. Roger likes to write, and he's writing a novel. So on any day when he recognizes that he's constantly thinking about his past, he gets out his novel and starts writing, Pretty soon he's completely absorbed in the plot and characters in his novel, and he's not thinking about his ast anymore. He's getting less and less angry. eso ou ves Au vounaiyg uoRIUedng AILrUALOD suoDD Jo woUNEdaG BeEsELLR) 90 230804 OV Invthe following-pages are-some-ideas-of ways-you-can.distract-yourself from harmful-thoughts and-emotions. As you look them over, think about which ones you might like to try. It’s important to choose a technique that will work for you! Also, the techniques presented here are just some ideas~ try to think of as many other ideas as you can while you read through the material Unlnok owt sone of Mu things You do te dished peal “sAwo Sane e040 PH i | ant eAPUNENA, som Of His Halinp? Ws dy May hulp gurecith ‘ANew Freedom “© AR. Phenix Resoures ne. «19952017 + yaew.neteedomprograms.com +P waging thas Helingp?A couple of more really important points: © You might ery a distraction technique, and it might not work at first. That's normal! It's part of the process. You can try again and this time it might work © You may come to realize that a particular technique is just not that effective for you. Don't worry about it~ move on and try something else. Your therapist can help you with new ideas for distraction even after you've completed this lesson, . For distraction techniques to work, you must be taking the medication that you've been given. You may have some very serious symptoms, and the medication will stabilize those symptoms, Then the distraction techniques will have a chance to work. Technique #1: Distract yourself by substituting a harmless behavior for the harmful behavior Instead of doing something that harms yourself or someone else, do something that’s safer and not so self-destructive. In the list below, check off any you think you would be willing to try Inst ‘cutting yourself ) Write on yourself with a marker. You can use a red one that will look like blood. Dig your fingernails into your arm without actually breaking the skin. Create yourself a voodoo doll. You can use some rolled-up socks. Then poke the the doll rather than cutting yourself. Keep a rubber band on your wrist, and snap it every time you feel like hurting yourself le will sting, but you won't actually damage yourself ‘What else could you or someone who cuts themselves do here instead of cutting? Write down three other things you can think of: x0 pon sweet ved fue p vrai YoIeNedNG Anuweg HOEavo9 WAG EEO SLE RI wep ENE ep! Na) ry |ANew Freedom © AR. Phoenix Resouces nc» 1985-2017» wi. newtteedomprograms.com «Papo 27 a Instead of getting violent or letting your anger explode: i ‘ 1 Scream into your pillow as loud as you can, 3 Write a letter to people who have hurt you. Tell them how much you hate them. : (1 __Ballup some socks and throw them against the wall as hard as you can, : C1 —_Do some strenuous exercise, like running in place or jumping jacks. Do them as hard g and a long as you can, i ‘What else could you do here instead of getting violent or letting your anger explode? Write a down three other things you can think of ; ! z i : j a. i. 5 3 ¢ | a | et gt i | NS i 3 a 3 g z 4 3 : | i 3 i C 2 g |ANew Freedom +@ AR. Prosi Resources, ne. 1995-2017 - waw newleedemprograms com = Page 3