Module 4 | Taking Action and Putting It All Together

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Module Video:

appraisals continued

Scroll down for a transcript of this video.

 

Welcome Back

Welcome back to Managing Emotion!

Last session we talked about the relationship between appraisals and emotion, and specifically how changing the way we appraise a given situation can change the way we feel. We discussed how appraisal styles can be thought of as either being helpful or unhelpful depending on how it makes us feel, and how it does or does not support our current goals in a given situation. Most of the time, unhelpful appraisal styles can be challenged by considering the available evidence, alternate explanations and balancing the positive with the negative.

In this module, we will be having a look into our self-efficacy and actions, before reviewing our collection of strategies for managing emotions.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN IT ALL GOES BAD?

In the previous module, we spent some time unpacking the difference between helpful and unhelpful appraisal styles, and how we can challenge our unhelpful appraisal styles. While we described a number of different challenging strategies, a lot of it boils down to pausing to reflect on whether we have considered all the available evidence. Often when we do this, we find that our initial appraisal was either not very realistic or unduly negative.

Let’s revisit our friend Henry who was waiting for his date. While Henry may have initially had a number of unhelpful thoughts come to mind, such as:

  • “Maybe she got into a bad car crash on the way here.”

  • “She’s ditched me. She must have found something better to do.”

  • “She probably never liked me. I’m pretty useless like that.”

After considering the available evidence (e.g. a week’s worth of consistent texting, sharing of jokes and good conversation), he concluded that it is also reasonable to expect that Lauren, his date, is probably just running late and will arrive shortly. Maybe not ideal, but definitely not completely disastrous.

But what if Lauren didn’t show up?

After all, sometimes bad stuff does actually happen. In times like these our appraisals are still very important to consider. We just need to take a slightly different angle.