Allowing yourself to experience certain emotions without trying to change them can sometimes be difficult, but in a number of situations it can help provide relief and less struggle with tough emotions. This is referred to as “emotional acceptance”. This clip applies this principle to a COVID-19 stress example.
Hi, I’m Dr. Matt B and these are your Emotional Minutes. Lately we’ve been talking about strategies to regulate or cope with emotions. The first step we covered was whether or not you can control the situation. When you can, it helps to take actions to improve or change the situation. Last time we talked about cognitive self-talk. Cognitive self-talk is a fancy term for thinking about where your thoughts are going and talking yourself through those moments. But what can you do when you can’t change the situation? When this is the case, it may be best to go with emotional acceptance.
Introducing Emotional Acceptance
This time we are going to talk about using emotional acceptance to cope with difficult emotions. Research shows that emotional acceptance is generally effective. I say generally because we constantly encounter new situations and you can have multiple different responses to each one.
Emotional acceptance is exactly what it sounds like: Accepting your emotional responses without trying to change them and accepting the situation for what it is. Research has found that when people accept their emotional responses, it’s easier for them to adjust to life’s challenges.
Other effects of emotional acceptance are adjusting to stress better, lower levels of depression and increased task completion, even when stressed.
Example: Negative Emotions from COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic is currently causing people a lot of anxiety and worry. It makes sense that the pandemic would bring up feelings like these. People are anxious about their health and the health of loved ones. There are other stressors as well, such as concerns about work and expenses. Allowing yourself to be worried in this situation is an example of emotional acceptance.
Benefits of Emotional Acceptance
A lot of times, people find that it is easier to accept some of the emotions they are experiencing. Doing this provides relief because they are not engaging with thoughts about how they should react to things. When they are not actively thinking about what they should be doing, it gives them a pass and allows them to rest mentally. It seems counterintuitive, but people find that, in accepting their emotions, they are able to get some relief from them.
Every situation is different. Not every emotional coping or regulation strategy is going to be the useful in every situation. However, these strategies have been shown to work in many situations.
