Microskills: Emotional Heightening

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In a therapeutic context, emotional heightening may be used to help a client explore and process their emotions in a safe and supportive environment. Here's an example:

Therapist: "Tell me about a recent situation that triggered strong emotions for you."

Client: "I had an argument with my partner, and I felt really angry and frustrated."

Therapist (Emotional Heightening): "Let's explore those feelings a bit more. Take a moment to close your eyes, and imagine yourself back in that situation. Allow those emotions of anger and frustration to come up. Notice the sensations in your body, the intensity of those feelings. What thoughts are running through your mind in this moment?"

By guiding the client to mentally revisit the situation and intentionally engage with their emotions, the therapist is using emotional heightening techniques. The therapist encourages the client to vividly imagine and reconnect with the intensity of their anger and frustration. They invite the client to focus on the bodily sensations, thoughts, and overall experience associated with those emotions.

This approach allows the client to explore and process their emotions more deeply, gaining insight into their triggers, underlying beliefs, and potential areas for growth. The therapist creates a contained space where the client can safely engage with their heightened emotions and gain a better understanding of their emotional landscape. Through this process, the client can develop greater self-awareness, emotional regulation skills, and work towards positive change.

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Episode Transcript

STACY (00:02):
Emotional heightening is a therapeutic technique employed
by mental health professionalsto facilitate deeper emotional
processing and enhance thetherapeutic experience for
clients.
It involves amplifying,exploring or accentuating a
client's emotional state orreactions, with the goal of
promoting self-awareness,emotional regulation and

(00:24):
personal growth.
Emotional heightening can beutilized in various therapeutic
modalities, includingpsychodynamic, cognitive,
behavioral, emotion-focused andexperiential therapies.
The technique of emotionalheightening is based on the
premise that clients maysuppress, minimize or avoid

(00:48):
certain emotions due to pastexperiences, cultural
conditioning or self-protectivemechanisms.
By amplifying these emotions ina safe and supportive
therapeutic environment,therapists can help clients
recognize and validate theiremotional experiences, thereby
fostering resilience, adaptivecoping strategies and enhanced

(01:10):
well-being.
Techniques used in emotionalheightening role-playing In this
technique, the therapist andclient engage in a role-play
exercise in which they act out ahypothetical scenario that
triggers intense emotions.
For instance, a therapist mayask the client to imagine that

(01:31):
they are in a heated argumentwith a family member or
colleague and then encourage theclient to fully immerse
themselves in the scenario,exploring the feelings of anger,
frustration and disappointmentthat arise.
This technique can help theclient gain insight into their
emotional reactions and patterns, as well as learn to express

(01:52):
their feelings in a moreconstructive way.
Guided imagery a clientdiscusses their feelings of
anxiety around public speaking,the therapist encourages the
client to close their eyes andimagine themselves in a
situation where they have todeliver a speech in front of a
large audience.
The therapist asks the clientto focus on their emotional and

(02:16):
physical sensations and guidesthem in exploring the anxiety in
greater depth.
This emotional heighteningallows the client to gain
insight into their fears anddevelop strategies for managing
anxiety in real-life situations.
Empty Chair Technique A clientexpresses unresolved anger

(02:38):
towards a deceased parent.
The therapist introduces theempty chair technique, wherein
the client is invited to speakdirectly to the imagined
presence of the deceased parent.
Seated in an empty chair, thetherapist encourages the client
to express their anger,disappointment and any other
emotions they may havesuppressed.
By heightening the emotionalintensity, the client is enabled

(02:59):
to process and release pent-upemotions, promoting healing and
closure.
Two-handed Technique A clientstruggles with conflicting
emotions about a major lifedecision.
The therapist employs thetwo-handed technique, asking the
client to place one hand ontheir chest and the other on
their stomach.
The client is instructed totune into the emotions

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associated with each hand,giving voice to the conflicting
feelings.
By heightening the awarenessand intensity of both emotions,
the client is better equipped tounderstand and integrate their
emotional experience, leading toa more informed and balanced
decision-making process.
Exaggeration In this technique,the therapist encourages the

(03:46):
client to exaggerate theiremotional response to a
particular situation.
For example, if a client isstruggling with feelings of
sadness or despair, thetherapist may encourage them to
fully immerse themselves inthose emotions by asking them to
describe the sadness in vividdetail or to imagine what it

(04:07):
would be like to feel even moreintense sadness.
While this technique may seemcounter-intuitive, it can
actually help the client gain adeeper understanding of their
emotions and learn to regulatethem more effectively.