24/8/24

Why do we have emotions?Presented by Paul Potgieter

Emotions play a major part in every person’s life. We experience emotions every moment of our lives, yet not many has asked the question: Why do we have emotions or what is the purpose of emotions. When I asked this question, my clients will give me the following answers:

  • So that we can feel.

  • So that we can express ourselves.

  • I don’t know, I wish I didn’t have emotions.

  • Because we are human

  • To protects us

Although most of the answers are somewhat true it doesn’t really capture the essence of why we have emotions.

Research by Lisa Veldman Barret published in her book “ How emotions are made has revolutionised the why we understand and think about emotions and for how we use our emotions and respond to other people. Other research that contribute to our understanding of emotions are research done by Dr Susan David, and new technologies such as fMRi that assist us in exploring the chemical flow in the body and the insight that body systems all work as a whole and that changes in one system affect other systems in the body.  This webinar focuses on the practical application of these theories in a therapeutic setting  to guide clients to better understand the purpose of emotions and learn how to use emotions to guide us to deal more effectively with the stressors in our lives.

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