I know it can be really difficult to navigate all the events happening in the world today. It seems like things are falling apart, with wars, climate change-caused drought and wildfires in some areas and flooding in others, with hunger not following far behind. And things aren’t any better on the political front either.
When difficult things happen out there in the world, they spill over into our relationships with our children. We suddenly find ourselves snapping at them far more easily than usual. The things they do that are normally mildly irritating now push us to the limit, and we end up reacting to them in ways that we don’t like.
In this episode we discuss the reasons why you feel emotionally yanked around by things that are happening out there in the wider world, as well as by the ways these things are discussed online and in our families as well.
We look at the tools you can use to regulate your emotions when this happens…but also that regulating your emotions and then voting to express your feelings about how the world should be isn’t going to make a meaningful difference. We learn tools you can use instead to create a sense of autonomy, which reduces stress and also change the circumstances themselves so they are less triggering in the future.
If you know you need support with your triggered feelings, whether these are related to:
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Other episodes mentioned:
Jump to highlights:
00:08 Societal factors that make us feel triggered
03:15 The Yerkes-Dodson law describes the empirical relationship between stress and performance
04:53 Broadhurst’s research has made it possible to see stress as a positive thing
07:12 A moderate amount of stress, time pressure and role conflict can all enhance your creativity
09:09 How feeling triggered is connected to our trauma in the past
11:50 Techniques to cope with stress when triggered by a trauma
12:50 What will you get out of the Taming Your Triggers workshop
13:25 Our brains spend a good deal of the time telling stories about what's happening to us
16:09 Why do we create new threats in our brain
18:49 Why dealing with our child's emotions can be difficult enough when we are completely present and capable
21:34 The value of mindfulness in dealing with an oppressive society
22:27 How Mutual Aid group work for people who need help with the system
24:26 Ways we can work together with others to bring the changes we want to see
27:35 The small wins of the Gay Rights Movement
33:22 The success story of two parents in the Taming Your Triggers community who help each other on their healing journey
36:27 Invitation to join the Taming Your Triggers workshop
References
Broadhurst, P.L. (1957). Emotionality and the Yerkes-Dodson Law. Journal of Experimental Psychology 54(5), 345-352.
Byron, K., Khazanchi, S., & Nazarian, D. (2010). The relationship between stressors and creativity: A meta-analysis examining competing theoretical models. Journal of Applied Psychology 95(1), 201-212.
Cole, L. W. (1911). The relation of strength of stimulus to rate of learning in the chick. Journal of Animal Behavior, 1(2), 111.
Corbett, M. (2015). From law to folklore: Work stress and the Yerkes-Dodson Law. Journal of Managerial Psychology 30(6), 741-752.
Corbett, M. (2013). Cold comfort firm: Lean organization and the empirical mirage of the comfort zone. Culture and Organization 19(5), 413-429.
Dodson, J. D. (1915). The relation of strength of stimulus to rapidity of habit-formation in the kitten. Journal of Animal Behavior, 5(4), 330.
U.S. Department of Justice (2016). Five things about violence against American Indian and Alaska Native women and men. Author. Retrieved from: https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/nij/249815.pdf
Weick, K.E. (1984). Small wins: Redefining the scale of social problems. American Psychologist 39(1), 40-49.
Yerkes, R.M., & Dodson, J.D. (1908). The relation of strength of stimulus to rapidity of habit formation. Journal of Comparative Neurology of Psychology 18(5), 459-482.
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