Interview with Sonia Galarza: the importance of emotions in therapy

Psychologist Sonia Galarza explains why it is essential to take emotions into account in psychotherapy.

For a long time, relationality has been the characteristic we tend to emphasize when comparing our species with other forms of animal life: human beings are the only ones capable of developing highly abstract thoughts, living in complex societies of millions of individuals, creating plans for the future years ahead, and communicating through a sophisticated use of languages.

However, it cannot be ignored that much of what happens to us, and the way we experience life, basically depends on our emotions. In fact, there are many occasions when we find that our emotional side is several steps ahead of our more intellectual "I". Think, for example, of the cases in which we postpone a visit to the dentist so as not to have to face that experience even though objectively the best option is to go as soon as possible, or the cases in which we continue to pay the gym fee even though we hardly go.

All this is not accidental: emotions have a great organizing power when it comes to developing habits and behavior patterns, and that is why, in part, any psychotherapy process must be carried out taking into account this emotional side of the human being. We will talk about this topic in today's interview with psychologist Sonia Galarza..

Interview with Sonia Galarza: why emotions are fundamental in psychotherapy.

Sonia Galarza Vallés is a General Health Psychologist and directs the psychological assistance center Psicocrea, located in Valencia. There he treats patients of all ages, putting into practice an experience accumulated over two decades. In this interview he will talk to us about the role that emotions play in the psychotherapy process, both in relation to the problem to be treated and in the progress towards the goal to be achieved, as well as in relation to the therapeutic relationship established between professionals and their patients.

Sadness and anxiety are often spoken of as if they were psychological phenomena to be avoided. Many people may even believe that they need to go to psychotherapy because these emotions are a problem that overwhelms them. To what extent can we speak of harmful emotions for the person?

Emotions by themselves are not harmful to the person, as long as they are handled properly. Managing emotions effectively will depend, to a large extent, on our emotional self-knowledge, as well as on our knowledge of the emotions of others. In addition, emotions are a source of information about ourselves and about the influence of the environment on our psychological and behavioral functioning.

However, the effective management of emotions can be complicated for some people, especially when we talk about emotions with negative connotations such as sadness, anxiety or anger.

These types of emotions that we tend to label as "harmful" are only indicating that there is some issue with our mental functioning or environment that we need to address.

Also the emotions that we label as "positive" are a source of information about us and the outside world. On some occasions, positive emotions are also treated in therapy, for example, when they are exaggerated or do not correspond to reality.

We can say, therefore, that emotions, whether positive or negative, have a usefulness in our psychological functioning and in our relationship with other people, and that all of them are healthy when properly conducted.

Some people may come to therapy for the first time after having spent a long time trying to repress and totally eliminate the emotions they find problematic. How can they be helped to reconcile with them?

When people come to therapy they are often focused on a very rational level, trying to give logical explanations for their problems, but without considering the associated emotional aspects, or taking them into account only partially.

Patients often have difficulties in identifying and naming their own emotions, which would be the first step in managing them effectively. Some patients are more aware of what their emotions are, but often get stuck in the emotional world and find it difficult to take into account both emotional and rational aspects at the same time.

In order to help patients in a first contact with the emotional world, training is provided in the identification of emotions that are associated with their daily events, such as couple or family conflicts, or situations of anxiety or depression.

Working with emotions is not a topic that is carried out in isolation, but is present in any therapeutic intervention, whether with couples, families or individually. Nor is it exclusive to a particular stage of development. People of all ages can benefit from the advantages of learning emotional management strategies.

How does a psychologist help a patient to develop her capacity for self-awareness regarding her way of experiencing feelings and emotions?

Through identification with emotions, patients significantly increase their self-awareness, often discovering that emotions they were not aware of are present in their daily lives. In addition, in addressing emotions, it is very important to review and train communication, especially non-verbal and paraverbal communication, which are closely linked to feelings and emotions.

We also work on empathy, which includes identification with other people's emotions. Patients realize that judgments about the behaviors of others depend to a large extent on their own ability to appraise the problem from the other person's emotional point of view. This occurs most often in couple relationships and in family conflicts. But we can also observe it in work relationships or with friends, since the way we behave in any personal relationship is strongly influenced by the emotional level of the people in the relationship.

The ultimate goal in dealing with emotions is that they are channeled and modulated so that they fulfill their function effectively. The way to channel each of the emotions will depend on the type of emotion and the problem with which it is linked. We work with emotions from a cognitive-behavioral perspective, relating them to the thoughts and behaviors with which they are associated.

In my practice, we also look at emotions from a humanistic perspective, which is more introspective. However, there are emotions that are very disruptive, such as anger, which in the case of causing serious problems with oneself or with others, are also addressed in a more directive way, with specific behavioral guidelines.

Considering that psychotherapy is a process that requires commitment and perseverance, how do you facilitate patients to take advantage of their own emotions to enhance self-motivation in this sense?

There is a moment when patients see the relationship between their emotional level and their behavioral and thinking levels. At that point in therapy patients start to become aware that they can modify the way they perceive problems, not only through reasoning but also through emotional self-knowledge and the correct management of their emotions. From this point on, a significant improvement in the patients' capacity for self-motivation is observed.

In this progress it is important to have developed the ability to postpone gratifications, channeling those emotions that can boycott our achievements. In this way we are more likely to achieve our desired accomplishments, thus increasing our sense of personal self-efficacy. This feeling of personal self-efficacy again influences our capacity for self-motivation. Of course, the capacity for self-motivation affects all levels of life, not only motivation related to therapy and a commitment to therapy.

Therefore, it can be said that motivation to continue attending therapy emerges most strongly when patients realize the potential of connecting with their own emotions and having tools to direct them toward a goal of growth. In order to achieve this goal as soon as possible, we start working on emotions from the very beginning of the therapeutic intervention, whatever the problem addressed.

How do emotions influence the therapeutic relationship between professional and patient?

All personal relationships are mediated by emotions and the relationship between therapist and patient is no exception. It is important that patient and therapist connect on an emotional level, creating a climate of minimal initial trust, which is necessary for both to feel at ease in the sessions.

As the sessions progress, the level of trust must increase, as well as the level of empathy, especially on the part of the therapist, who must connect on an emotional level with his patients in order to provide them with constant feedback about their handling of emotions. In this way, the therapist will assist in the identification of emotions that the patient has difficulty recognizing on his or her own.

Finally, any negative emotions between the therapist and the patient, which may arise during the course of the sessions, must be addressed in therapy in order for therapy to continue successfully.

Finally... do you think that the influence of rationality on human behavior is often overestimated?

Culturally we are conditioned to face problems in a very rational way. There are people who know that emotions exist and know how to name them, but they have great difficulty in identifying them in themselves and sometimes also in others.

If we do not take emotions into account and only consider the rational aspects, the emotional level will continue to act, but without our conscious permission, that is, out of control. Therefore, disregarding emotional issues and leaving everything to rationality can lead to problems being aggravated rather than solved.

It is very often that I have to insist to patients that we must make an effort to deal with the emotional issue, as they often do not believe that their mental stability is so conditioned by the things they feel. In these cases, I try to convey that we do not intend to leave aside the rational aspect, since we need to find explanations for those issues that worry us or bother us. But this does not imply ignoring or minimizing the emotional aspects.

We have been trained since childhood to be logical and rational beings. This means that we have acquired deeply entrenched habits that push us to solve problems with logic and reasoning, regardless of the emotional level. Modifying this long-established tendency usually requires an extra effort, since the will to improve is usually not enough. Therapeutic work with emotions gives us the opportunity to learn and implement new strategies to face our reality, giving emotional issues the importance they require.