Page 81 - EAP Manual

Emotion Regulation PRIMARY & SECONDARY FEELINGS
Did you know that you can...
 experience more than one feeling at a time?
 feel more than one feeling during one event?
1. Primary Feelings are:
- “hard wired”—they are like a reflex
- quick & natural
- like smoke detectors because they alert me to something that I need to
pay attention to
2. Secondary Feelings are:
- created by the way I feel or think about something
- feelings about (Primary) Feelings
- not “hard wired”
Let’s look at some examples:
Event / situation
Receiving a ‘bad’ grade on an assignment
Getting caught stealing from my sibling
PRIMARY Feeling Initial Feeling
Frustration
Anger
SECONDARY Feeling Underlying Feeling
Disappointment
Guilt/shame
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