Yuku free message boards

Hi Jeff:

Jeff asks: "I use a release technique I learned elsewhere. The instructions encourage releasers to keep releasing throughout the day. I do this. I'm devoting far too much time. Anywhere from 2 to 4 hours per day. My results are not showing any real progress after eight months. The same feelings keep returning. I feel anxious and stuck. My wife tells me I'm addicted to releasing and that's all I care about. Admittedly it feels compulsive, like it's something I gotta do. I feel awful when I don't. What do you suggest to rid myself of this compulsion? Any help on this is appreciated."

Jeff keep in mind that just about any activity can be made into a compulsive habit to avoid emotions. People make compulsions out of exercise and work for example.

At Emoclear we recommend that folks do no more than 30 minutes per day of emotional processing (Maybe one day a week up to an hour) otherwise they risk producing too many endorphins that block feeling targets and interfere with SUD Scales. They also create a compulsive activity. Many emotional processes stimulate endorphins by contacting strong emotions and pain. Too many endorphins can be addictive. Processing can be seized upon by those suffering emotional overwhelm and utilized as a compulsive defense against emotional overwhelm.

My suggestion is to limit what you're doing to no more than 30 minutes per day. Spend your time feeling the feelings so they desensitize. Find other activitities to do if you feel pulled toward overdoing it. What powers up compulsive activities is being overwhelmed. Genuinely feel that area of overwhelm and let it be there without trying to get rid of it. Keep feeling it. The intensity will die down. When you experience these areas of overwhelm, your compuslion to overdo it evaporates.

Take care, Steve