Reclaiming Anger: Trauma, Repression, and Healthy Protest with Elizabeth Ferreira

Forrest and associate therapist Elizabeth Ferreira talk about healthy (and unhealthy) anger. They challenge the common framing of anger as a “secondary emotion,” and explore why anger matters, how it relates to trauma, and what it can tell us about our wants and needs. They discuss how to access healthy protest and work with less healthy forms of anger like explosive rage, repression, defensiveness, passive aggression, and righteousness. Elizabeth shares insights from both her personal experience as someone with CPTSD and her clinical practice. Key Topics: 0:00: Introduction: Why anger matters, and why it’s misunderstood 3:32: How trauma shapes our relationship to anger 5:40: Bypassing anger in therapy 9:04: What happens when anger is suppressed 12:29: Reclaiming anger: submit, explode, or something else 15:45: Anger as a signal of wants and needs 16:20: Boundaries, protest, and complex trauma 25:01: When CPTSD makes it hard to know what you want 30:06: Dissociation, structural trauma, and accessing anger 35:04: Why we need others to co-regulate big emotions 43:20: Emotional responsibility, self-awareness, and repair 53:26: Reconnecting with wants and needs through play Support the Podcast: We're now on Patreon! If you'd like to support the podcast, follow this link. Sponsors Try Daily30+, the 30+ plant prebiotic supplement from ZOE. Go to zoe.com/daily30 today, and you’ll get a free bright yellow ZOE tin and a magnetic scoop. Join hundreds of thousands of people who are taking charge of their health. Learn more and join Function at functionhealth.com/BEINGWELL. For a limited time, get Headspace FREE for 60 days. Go to Headspace.com/BEINGWELL60. Listen now to the Life Kit podcast from NPR. Go to Zocdoc.com/BEING to find and instantly book a top-rated doctor today. Sign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial period at shopify.com/beingwell.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices