In the last blog we talked about Level 0 consciousness, which is essentially not conscious; it’s the primal self, or survival.
This week the subject is Level 1 consciousness. These levels actually parallel evolutionary development. As you’ll be able to see if you have a dog or a cat, animals have emotions as opposed to (as far as I can tell), insects.
The Role of Emotions
Emotions developed as an evolutionary survival trait, so even if you don’t like them, we need to recognize that we wouldn’t be where we are without them. They have many roles and serve to protect us in so many ways. They create connection and even support altruism, which is the willingness to sacrifice ourselves for others.
Fear protects us from danger, sadness lets us know we have lost something and that we would like it back, and anger gives us the energy and determination to right wrongs and assert ourselves. Shame and guilt keep us doing things that would harm ourselves or others, and steer us away from anything that could jeopardise group bonding.
Emotions are only a problem when they are out of proportion to the situation. So, how do emotions get out of proportion with the situation?
Emotional Trauma: When Emotions Become Too Much
That is where coaching at Level 1 comes in. We are working with the emotional body – the part of us that holds and feels emotions.
Any time that we experience emotions that are more than we can feel or handle at that moment, we repress them and store them in our physical body and our nervous system. This is an evolutionary trait that allows us to function in very challenging or traumatic situations.
This is where PTSD comes in.
In our culture, we were not trained to release these feelings after the event. Our parents did not know how and they had their own repressed traumas. So as coaches, when we are working with our clients we often have to lead them through the release of these trapped feelings and emotions. I teach this process as a part of Inquiry Method™ training, for example. Find a training that inspires you – not only will it be great for your clients but it will be life changing for you too!
The Importance of Safety in Coaching
The most important thing to do for someone who needs to heal their emotional body is safety. Learning how to create safety is a skill and is so crucial for working with clients at this level.
But how can you tell that someone needs emotional release work?
People who need emotional release work are in the state of emotional reaction to something. This means that any sort of reasoning or trying to think about the situation in new ways doesn’t work. No matter how much they try to think about the situation rationally they can’t act and feel rationally. Without trauma release, no amount of coaching them on other ways to think about the situation will make a difference.
They will simply keep repeating the same behaviour.
This applies to any life changes they want to make that just don’t seem to be working. Behaviours that are hard to change and keep repeating often have emotional trauma behind them. Unhealthy relationship patterns, procrastination, weight loss and health activities, depression…it could essentially be any change that is truly wanted but the person is not able to change.
It is so satisfying to assist someone in this way. It’s a little like a magic pill: one moment things seem impossible and dark, and the next moment the client can see the way forward clearly and easily.
Healing Emotional Trauma
Some major traumas from the past may have many aspects that need to be healed. It is kind of like having a patient that has been hit by a grenade. It is a wound with lots of shrapnel; you may have to go in many times before you get it all out, but it really is really possible to be fully healed.
My coaching clients are often amazed about how easily they are able to learn to do this and get amazing results with the people they coach.
Why do we want to heal emotional trauma? Because it takes so much away from our lives! I use another gross and disturbing metaphor for this. Having emotional trauma is like having a construction nail in your kneecap, while it is possible to ignore it for a few moments or survive, it is really distracting. It’s hard to participate in life, laugh, have fun, or have a great relationship.
Want to learn more about working with emotional trauma as a coach? Get in touch and let’s work together to make a difference to the people you serve so well.