Page 12 - NARM Model for Working with Affect

NARM Affect Core Principle: Anger & Aggression
§Because it isn’t safe for children to express their aggression directly in their environment, they must shut it down in different ways
§Their life energy becomes compromised and without this important self-activating mechanism, it leaves them helpless and vulnerable
§Distorted anger and aggression leads to various acting-in and acting-out behaviors for children, and later as adults, for example:
§Children Acting-In: withdrawing, disengaging, dissociating, regressing, self-harming
§Children Acting-Out: hitting, screaming, oppositional and defiant, lying, stealing, bullying, harming animals
§Adult Acting-In: self-critical judgments, low self-esteem, depression, substance and eating disorders, co-dependency, self-harming
§Adult Acting-Out: boundary violations, lying, manipulative, controlling, abusive and violent
NARM Model for Working with Affect Laurence Heller, PhD & Brad J Kammer, LMFT, LPCC 14