Emotional Dysregulation Therapy

Understanding Emotional Dysregulation

Emotional dysregulation is a symptom of trauma or stressful experiences that impacts how a person manages their emotions. Individuals with emotional dysregulation tend to experience their feelings intensely, which can result in relationship issues, avoidance behaviors, harmful actions, and impulsivity.

Our therapists use the Sovereign Body Method to help you find safety within your body and feel grounded and confident in expressing your emotions.

Symptoms

Common symptoms of emotional dysregulation include:

• Feeling on edge or easily triggered
• Shutting down, snapping, or withdrawing
• Feeling overwhelmed by emotions
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Overreacting to minor events
• Inability to see solutions
• Somatic symptom disorder
• Seasonal affective disorder (SAD)

Emotional dysregulation is treatable. With the Sovereign Body Method, you can feel more balanced, use your emotions as valuable information, express yourself confidently, and make better decisions that align with your true self.

Causes

Emotional dysregulation is the normal way our nervous system adapts to past experiences. When we go through traumatic or stressful events, our bodies release adrenaline and cortisol. This activates our brain’s alert system, which continuously scans for danger based on previous experiences. Constantly perceiving danger can make us more emotionally volatile.

Treatment Options

Therapy at Evolve Therapy & Counseling follows a structured four-phase method. We begin by understanding your current life situation and identifying your goals. Your therapist will then help you recognize tension in your body and find simple ways to release it. This step is especially important for emotional dysregulation, as releasing tension helps let go of stored emotions, allowing you to access more cognitive parts of the brain. Once you learn to regulate your emotions, you can start using them as guidance.

Some evidence-based interventions within this method can include:

• Somatic regulation: helps you learn how to relax the muscles of your body, which alleviates intense emotions
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): Helps you identify thoughts that lead to negative feelings and unwanted behaviors. Your therapist can then help you identify techniques for changing your thoughts, which will, in turn, change your feelings and actions.
• Dialectic Behavioral Therapy (DBT): A popular therapy for emotional dysregulation, which helps clients learn skills to manage their emotions and tolerate distress.
• Schema therapy: Holds the belief that emotional dysregulation comes from maladaptive schemas developed in childhood. Schema therapy can help you change your narratives to help regulate your emotions or even treat disorders like narcissistic personality disorder.

Managing life with emotional dysregulation can be challenging and may prevent you from moving forward in the direction you desire.

That’s why Liz Chelak, LCSW, developed this method. It is designed for clients who have previously undergone talk therapy but feel it didn’t take them as far as they wanted to go. This method is for those who want to feel confident and clear in making decisions, setting boundaries, expressing themselves, and communicating effectively.

Efficacy of Treatment

You can fully recover from emotional dysregulation. Emotional dysregulation is not a diagnosis; it is a symptom of traumatic or stressful experiences. In therapy, you will learn the skills, tools, and techniques you need that you can use in stressful and overwhelming situations throughout your lifetime.

Remember to be kind to yourself, utilize the skills you learned in therapy, build a support system outside of professionals, and, most importantly, maintain the lifestyle changes you made while in therapy.

Many of our clients shared that they no longer feel overwhelmed by their emotions, stating that they have the tools to cope with past traumas and daily life.

Treatment Duration

During your first session, you will get actionable steps you can take to alleviate your emotional dysregulation.

However, therapy is not about the length of treatment. It is about making sustainable, lifelong changes.

Some things that can affect how long emotional regulation therapy takes include:

• The severity of your trauma
• Your willingness to participate in treatment
• Consistency in practicing regulation techniques
• Your response to treatment

People often stay in therapy long-term to practice what they learn in sessions in their daily lives. To achieve the best results from therapy, it’s essential to remain honest.

Medications

Medications can help treat the symptoms of emotional dysregulation, however it does not treat the emotional dysregulation itself.

Some medications that may be prescribed for emotional dysregulation include:

• Antidepressants such as fluoxetine (Prozac), sertraline (Zoloft), escitalopram (Lexapro)
• Mood stabilizers such as lithium, lamotrigine (Lamictal), valproic acid (Depakote)
• Antipsychotics such as lithium, lamotrigine (Lamictal), valproic acid (Depakote)

Talk to your psychiatrist about medications for emotional dysregulation to complement somatic therapy.

Our Approach

All our therapists are master ‘s level licensed professionals registered with the Florida Board, specializing in regulating the nervous system to help clients with emotional dysregulation. They understand that emotional dysregulation is a normal response to stressful experiences.

Our therapists assist you in connecting with yourself and finding simple, actionable practices to incorporate into your daily life. These practices aim to ease overwhelming emotions, help you process them, and ultimately let them go.

Our philosophy for treating emotional dysregulation is to approach each individual with compassion and care. Our goal is to help you discover what works best for you in a safe and confidential environment.

Within our proprietary method, we employ evidence-based therapeutic interventions such as:

• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
  Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT)
  Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
  Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy (REBT)

Our counselors stay updated on the latest training and psychology research to ensure the best care for our clients.

Specializing in Treating Emotional Dysregulation

When looking for a therapist to help with emotional dysregulation, look for the following:

• Credential: Our counselors are is a licensed with post-graduate credentials in trauma-informed care.
• Approach: Our approach is structured and evidence-based.
• Location: We have offices located across Miami and Palm Beach County and offer virtual sessions for your convenience.
• Personality: Our therapists are down-to-earth and caring professionals who care deeply about their clients.

If you are ready to begin emotional dysregulation therapy, call our Miami or West Palm Beach office today for a free consultation.