Over the next few months we will be writing about the different types of emotions we feel and why we feel them. The explanation will be based on the Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (REBT), one of the main schools of cognitive behaviour therapy.
REBT posits it is not the event, but the belief or view you hold about the event, which is at the heart of emotional states and behavioural tendencies. The event can be something that has happened in the past, something that is happening now or something that could happen in the future. It can also be real, imaginary or internal or external.
Beliefs can be healthy or unhealthy. Healthy beliefs provoke healthy negative emotions about adverse events, whilst unhealthy beliefs provoke unhealthy negative emotions about adverse events. Many people think mistakenly think that any negative emotion is a problem and as such should be ‘worked on’. This is not true.
Unhealthy beliefs provoke unhealthy negative emotions like anxiety, depression, anger, guilt, hurt, hurt, jealousy, shame/embarrassment and unhealthy envy.
The healthy counterpart beliefs provoke healthy negative emotions like concern, sadness, annoyance, remorse, disappointment, concern for one’s relationship, regret and healthy envy.
Diagram 1 shows the relationship between events, beliefs and their consequences. Diagram 2 shows the emotional pairs and the themes of the beliefs that provoke them. For example, Anxiety and Concern are emotional pairs. Anxiety is the unhealthy emotion provoked by an unhealthy belief about a perceived threat or risk, while Concern is the healthy negative emotion provoked by a healthy belief about perceived threat or risk.
Events, beliefs and their consequences
Healthy and unhealthy beliefs
The first blog will be on the emotional pair of Anxiety and Concern. This will be published next week. We hope you will find it interesting and helpful.
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