Ep 10 - A Theory of Everything: The Primary Colors of Emotional Experience

It might sound silly, or even impossible, to have a theory of everything that might show up in our clinical work.And yet, when we’re sitting with people who are stuck or sitting with people that are suffering, so often it comes back to one of a few fundamental feelings, and all of the emotional gradations that come from them: safety, grief, and shame.Today, we’re digging into these emotional primary colors that are at the root of so much of what we see in our clinical practices, how they show up and shape family dynamics, and how our personal experiences shape the lens that we bring to our work and how we frame the world.Listen to the full episode to hear:The patterns of behavior shaped by safety and belonging that Gillian recognized in her clients as parallels from her childhoodWhy nurturing an environment that is consistently safe and loving is a lot harder than it soundsHow feelings of unsafety, grief, and shame show up for parents and kidsHow shame functions as a product of survival fear and also a measure of if we deserve to be seen and lovedWhy family and child counseling often needs to start with the parents and the family system Learn more about I Hate You. What’s For Dinner?Learn more about Gillian Boudreau, PhD.:WebsiteInstagram @clearconnectionpsychologyLearn more about Rob Galligan, PhD.:Instagram @dr.robert.galliganResources:Extreme - More Than WordsHurvich, Marvin. (2003). The Place of Annihilation Anxieties in Psychoanalytic Theory. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association. 51. 579-616. 10.1177/00030651030510020801. Winnicott, Donald W., 'Fear of Breakdown', in Lesley Caldwell, and Helen Taylor Robinson (eds), The Collected Works of D. W. Winnicott: Volume 6, 1960-1963 (New York, 2016Melanie KleinDonald WinnicottEp 09 - Fear, Resistance, and Flow: Paula Tursi on Letting Parenting HappenTrauma and Recovery The Aftermath of Violence–From Domestic Abuse to Political Terror, Judith L. Herman, MDThe Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma, Bessel van der Kolk, MDWilfred Bion