Counselling: A Map for Emotional Wellbeing

Overview

Much disappointment results from either our attempts at living by others’ expectations or hoping that they must live up to ours

What is Emotional wellbeing?

Emotional wellbeing refers to more than the mere absence of depression, anxiety or other diagnosable psychological disorders. Rather it is the presence of qualities that allow us to create for ourselves the best possible life.

Emotional wellbeing requires the ability to develop and maintain healthy relationships, ability to deal with uncertainty and adapt to the changes in one’s life.

Emotionally healthy individuals have the ability to feel, express and manage a range of positive and negative emotions.

Negative emotions that are often seen to impede our wellness, can, in fact, be seen as a warning signal that serves the purpose of bringing our attention to the ineffective methods we are using to deal with important issues in our lives.

Suppressing or staying overly focused on negative emotions cause negative consequences in our relationships, work, finances and even physical health.

Our emotional wellbeing/psychological health are closely connected to our life experiences, our innate temperament and our personality.

Early childhood experiences are especially significant since it is these that teach us the “acceptable” norms of behaviour, thoughts, feelings and relationships. That is, we develop the “right” ways of being by witnessing our caregivers in action. We carry these images in our psyche that serve as templates for processing and defining later behaviours, thoughts, feelings and relationships with others.