Window of Tolerance and Emotional Regulation (Dr Dan Siegel)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 ธ.ค. 2021
- The window of tolerance was originally described by Dr. Dan Siegel as the optimal zone of emotional arousal. If you stay within your window of tolerance you are able to process and successfully respond to the demands of everyday life.
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🔵 HYPER-AROUSAL
During times of extreme stress you can move outside of your window of tolerance and into a state of hyper-arousal. The sympathetic nervous system is ignited and the fight or flight response activated. In this state you may feel angry, irritable, chaotic, hyper-vigilant, anxious, have racing thoughts and a sense of restlessness. Hyper-arousal results in the deactivation of your prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for executive functions such as attention and impulse control. When the prefrontal cortex is essentially shut down it's Very difficult to think clearly and rationally.
🔵 CHAPTERS
0:05 What is the Window of Tolerance?
0:53 Hyper-aroused state explained
1:36 Hypo-aroused state explained
3:00 How to emotionally regulate
🔵 HYPO-AROUSAL
Stress can also make you plummet into a hypo-aroused state. The parasympathetic nervous system is engaged and you freeze in response to stress or danger. In this state you may feel overwhelmed, emotionally numb, exhausted, lack motivation and feel depressed. Your body posture may collapse or curl up in a ball and you may disconnect or dissociate in order to cope. In the hypo-aroused state you have essentially shut down.
The good news is that you can widen your window of tolerance and therefore increase your ability to manage stress. For example, if you are hyper-aroused you might find it helpful to use techniques that settle your mind and body such as mindful breathing, listening to calming music, going for a gentle walk or talking to a friend.
🔵 HOW TO INCREASE YOUR WINDOW OF TOLERANCE
If shifting from a hypo-aroused state this tends to require getting more active so going for a brisk walk, doing some exercise or engaging socially. Stimulating the senses via smell or touch, listening to uplifting music, or eating some food with a strong taste or crunchy texture. Psychological Therapy can also widen your window as it can provide an external source of safety, a protected space and a personal connection with someone.
I summary you can learn to modulate your internal states to raise arousal levels when too low and to shift then down when too high. By monitoring and modulating your internal state you can increase resilience and promote self-regulation.
🔵 LINKS TO HELPFUL EXERCISES
☐Soothing Rhythm Breathing: • Soothing Rhythm Breath...
☐The Safe Place: • The Safe Place Meditat...
☐Mindful Breathing: • Mindful Breathing Medi...
☐The Body Scan: • Body Scan Mindfulness ...
☐Kindness to Self: • Kindness to Self Mindf...
🔵 ABOUT TERESA LEWIS
Teresa Lewis is the founder and Director of Lewis Psychology and a Senior Accredited psychotherapist with the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (MBACP Snr. Accred). Qualified in 1995, Teresa has been providing counselling and psychotherapy treatment for nearly 30 years. Teresa holds a masters degree in counselling and psychotherapy and is a qualified EMDR Practitioner having completed training accredited with EMDR Europe. Teresa is also a qualified adult educator and an accredited Mindfulness teacher As a recognised expert in her field Teresa is frequently asked to conduct editorial reviews and endorse counselling and psychotherapy books for international publishing houses.
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Thank you. If you only understood. This is life saving and life changing. Im 32 years old. Recovering alcoholic/addict. I'm suffering through some type of ptsd. I've remained in the state of hyper and hypo arousal it's truly exhausting to be fully energized or to be fully depleted. Every day starts out in the State of Shock which stairs into a fight Fawn flight freeze all of the different varieties once that's over with it's as if you've used all your energy for a week and you just want to sleep for 14 hours but then you know when you wake up it's all going to start again so you're afraid to even go to sleep. I'm just a thirty-year-old man child who hasn't figured out how to get insurance or mental health and a self-admitted myself to places when I was Ill before now that I've gotten older so I got become more afraid they're funny Farms I don't want to be back inside those places even though I need help feel like I'm going down the rabbit hole into the darkest depths of despair. I live in a rural area isolated also don't have any friends or communication. One thing I've been tripping on for so long is my next door neighbor shot himself in the neck and his wife tried to save him and I was there in the midst of it all and I never really got over it and she didn't either this many years and years were nobody lived there and now there's all these people working there and don't even speak English. I feel like I've got a literal skeleton in my backyard and a ghost haunting me. Learning more about these Mental Health Resources extremely beneficial not using it as an alternate I'm just using it as a compliment so they care that I'm thank you for helping people who can't afford help that is what you're doing with this information education is the most valuable thing we can share in this world can you put a price tag on medical information is the most detrimental thing we could do to those who are truly suffering. To be ad-free and to be able to watch these simple informative videos with the calming tone has bee.n so uplifting and for that I'm eternally grateful
I'm pleased to hear this video has been so helpful to you. Thank you for your support. Best wishes, Teresa.
Hang in there! It gets better, just please don’t be too hard on yourself. I’ve been there too (recovering alcoholic/addict with mental health issues, ptsd) and I know how overwhelming even “normal” things can be, especially if you were never taught them growing up and/or were loaded most of your life, like I was. Just take it one day at a time. What has helped me tremendously is going to treatment, followed by outpatient groups, and involved in 12 Step programs. I resisted these things for many, many years, but now that I’ve surrendered and began to be an active participant in my own recovery, my mind and my life are so much better now. I never knew I could feel this free and at peace. I wish you the best and hope you can find what I have found here❤
Outside my window of tolerance right now. It's f n overwhelming man. Great info. My algorithm knew what I needed. Thanks
CPTSD champion here, this is spot on.
That’s great to hear. Best wishes, Teresa.
dan, in general, is an absolute genius,,,,he confirmed thru his research what i theorized
My window of tolerance is very small. Im close to Hyper arousal all the time. Over reacting over nothing. My psychologist/therapist just told me about this today. Its something im going to work on in the near future.
Such a helpful video! I have a child who has a small window of tolerance due to autism. It’s so helpful to learn the biological reasons her hyper arousal state is happening.
My ADHD therapist sent me a link to this video during our session today and I am absolutely astounded by the concept of the window of tolerance.
I believe, with CPTSD since early childhood, and PTSD which started a little over 10 years ago, that I have spent the better half of my life living outside my window(s) of tolerance. I identify strongly with the symptoms of both hyper and hypo arousal states and just assumed this was normal for everyone (and wondered how on earth people managed to accomplish things!) This new information is eye-opening and gives me hope that I'm finally on the right path to address many of the issues caused by spending so much time outside my window.
Learning about the deactivation of the prefrontal cortex really hit home. No wonder the other work I've been doing to improve my executive function has only been able to take me so far! I feel like I finally understand why I'm stuck in my trauma recovery.
Thank you SO MUCH for sharing this! I have also seen your brief intro to feeling present in my body, and between that practice and your suggestions in this video to bring myself back into my window of tolerance, I can see how these simple activities will make a huge impact on my life today and in the future. I plan to share this video with others in my ADHD and Trauma therapy groups in hopes they will find it to be as impactful as I have.
😊👍🏻❤
Thank you for your comment. I'm so pleased to hear this video has been helpful to you. You may be interested in my video on trauma and the nervous system: th-cam.com/video/9G2QUpHExjk/w-d-xo.html I wish you all the best with your trauma recovery. Best wishes, Teresa.
@LewisPsychology❤ I've hit a brick wall atm and really I'm finding out more about what I have been having to adapt to or deal with it.Or.get diagnosised with a new disorder and medication 😢 Been through some extremely traumatic experiences and some even been caused by doctors and constantly putting it down to my mental health at the time 🤬 I can now actually pinpoint every time I was diagnosed was after the trauma.Which wasn't spoken about. They treat the response ur experiencing at the time. So much make's more sense and now instead of going around In circle's any longer I know so much more and I'm more focused than ever 😊 Now for the hard part having to tell my story or why I'm reacting to something. Not easy just mental health is destroying me and I can see it coming close to burn out with both children.because on-top of that we have been battling with family violence for over 15 yrs.plus grieving for my Mum aswell ❤ I m looking forward to watching this thanks for sharing
Gosh, I can't even take the time to properly articulate myself. I usually use voice dictate to comment then I read it and I just deleted all I'm just going to leave this one
These videos are worthy of an award. So clear and simplified. I use the videos as psychoeducation for the clients I work with. thank you thank you!
Wow, thank you so much for your kind words, it’s means a lot. Best wishes, Teresa.
this was great, thank you
Thank you for this video. I watched another one that talked about Dorsal Vagal shutdown. I have a great life partner of almost 40 yrs. He has not let the same dialog around covid/mandates right into conspiracy theories go. I get daily rants and I feel like a blanket has been thrown over me. I now know thanks to your video, that I am experiencing Dorsal Vagal shutdown and become hypo tolerant. My struggle with saying something too often is I don't want to shut down his need to be heard.
Thanks for sharing. Best wishes, Teresa.
Thank you for this. I use these types of psychoeducational videos with my trauma clients and my own professional development. I especially like the summary and links that you provide.
You're so welcome! Best wishes, Teresa.
Beautiful Eye Opening. Thank you Dear Lewis🎉❤💐👌
That’s great to hear. Best wishes, Teresa.
This is an excellent video for clients - concise and informative. Thank you for sharing this and for including strategies for increasing WofT.
Thank you Sesaly. Best wishes, Teresa.
I'm a single parent of twin teens who have special needs and am in my last semester of my MSW program, carrying a full course load plus a fellowship. Sometimes it feels like someone threw a rock through my window of tolerance. 😂
Thanks for your comment Pepper. That certainly sounds like it was a trying time for you. I hope things have improved. Best wishes, Teresa
God bless you..
You’re like a superhero! I’m overwhelmed and I live alone. Blessings to you.
This must be so hard!!! Wishing you all the best!
Thank you for doing these videos. ❤️⭐️❤️
As a counsellor and mental health practitioner I have been sharing them with both my private clients and with the university students that I work with. They act as a visual psychoeducative reminder for some of the themes that come up during sessions. ❤️⭐️❤️
Fantastic. That was always my intention. I’m so pleased to hear you have been sharing them with your clients. Let me know if there are any particular videos you would like to see on my channel. Best wishes, Teresa.
Amazingly clear insights ! Thank you !
Glad it was helpful! Best wishes, Teresa.
Teresa, thank you for your insights. Based on what is presented in this video, I've been stuck in a state of HYPO-arousal for AGES... which gets to the root of every struggle that I have faced during all of that time. This makes so much sense. In hindsight, the medications that I have been on will actually solve nothing because the structure of my default response mechanism has never been properly dealt with. Now... how to deal with THAT after 62 years of conditioning...
Sending my best wishes. Teresa.
Wow! Your video is full of technical useful information! I am a licensed clinical social worker, and I had to pause several times to take notes and rewind because I want to share this with my clients! Of course, I subscribed! And I will share it with my students as well!
Thank you so much Erica, your lovely comment has made my day. It's great to hear you will be sharing this with your clients and your students. Best wishes, Teresa.
Excellent videos and advice. Thank you
Thanks for your support. Best wishes, Teresa.
Great video, thank you!!
Thanks for your support. Best wishes, Teresa.
Very helpful. Thank you
That’s great to hear. Best wishes, Teresa.
I find my window of tolerance is very small, I tend to be triggered easily and have poor control of my emotions. I have C-PTSD and ADHD (exective dysfunction is also an issue), so my pre-frontal cortex is probably very rarely, if ever, functioning correctly lol and it affects my chronic pain so badly.
Thanks for your comment Daisy. I'm sorry to hear what you are going through. Do take care. Warm wishes.
I can relate to your comment, thank you.
Thanks, clear and understandable:)
Great to hear! Best wishes, Teresa.
It would be great if you can make a video on emotional & rational decision making
Thanks for your comment. You may find this video of interest: th-cam.com/video/YJnZBm6Y51Y/w-d-xo.html
This is that video
Thanks
Thank you for your kind monetary support, much appreciated. Best wishes, Teresa.
Fascinating. Would you say we can expand our Window…. or we can do things to bring our State back within the Window?
Sounds a bit more like the latter to me.
We can expand our window of tolerance. Best wishes, Teresa
it seems some people are always in a hyper-aroused state - and they seem to always be doing things to keep themselves there (listening to aggressive music, watching murder stories, participating in highly competitive sports or games, getting into conflicts with people or being a bully) - can people become 'addicted' top being hyper-aroused?
Interesting
Thank you Irene. Best wishes, Teresa.
I wonder if you can have both and unfortunately calming activities just increases hypo arousal rather than reducing hyper arousal and stimulating activities just increase hyper arousal rather than reduce hypo arousal?
Good question Cairo. You can move between a hyper and hypo-aroused state. Through trial and error you will need to work out which activities work for you and when. Best wishes, Teresa.
What is meant by rational thoughts? Do explain
Thanks for your comment. You may find this video of interest:th-cam.com/video/YJnZBm6Y51Y/w-d-xo.html
I feel like I switch from being hyperaroused for a couple of days, followed by 1 or 2 days of hyoo-arousal..... Is that weird? Or even possible?
Yes, that’s very possible. Best wishes, Teresa.
@@LewisPsychology thank you :)
I am in a shutdown state for years. tried all kinds of medicines. nothing helps me much.
I’m really sorry to hear that.
@@LewisPsychology can you help me in this? what can i do or i have to be like this forever?
@@ankushsingla4546 I'm sorry to hear you have been like this for a very long time. I would suggest psychological therapy.
Hi Ankush. I wonder if the medication is the problem. Side effects to them can be anxiety and depression. Have you tried consistant meditation?