What Is the Bio-Emotive Framework?
The Bio-Emotive Framework advocates for the healthy acknowledgement, understanding, and expression of emotions, for all people. It is a framework of understanding, created by Dr. Douglas J. Tataryn, a psychologist based in central Canada, which explains why it’s important for all people to have a safe and healthy experience of experiencing and expressing emotion. Within the development of the Bio-Emotive Framework, there are some key-concepts that Dr. Douglas originated, such key concepts as:
- Core-Feelings: These feelings that form the basis of human emotional experience and all people experience the positive or negative version of them.
- Social and Survival Emotions: Understanding the distinction between emotions related to social interactions and those related to survival instincts.
- Updating Impressions: The process of revising one’s perceptions and beliefs based on creating new, key, emotional experiences.
- Feeling Beliefs: Unconscious beliefs about one’s self that form from unprocessed feelings, which cause a generalization. They influence our perception, identity, emotions, and behavior.
- Emotional Processing: The idea that we must “process” our feelings and emotions, not just analyze, shift-mindsets, or change our behavior.
- Chronic Emotional Activation: The concept that many mental and physical health issues stem from prolonged states of emotional arousal, rather than being purely psychological disorders.
The Bio-Emotive Framework is often seen as “the missing piece” for those who are committed to self-help, psychological or spiritual pursuits. By understanding this framework, you will amplify the power of the tools you already use, as well as your understanding of why they work.
According to the framework, chronic emotional activation can lead to conditions such as anxiety, depression, stress, and various chronic health problems. Coping mechanisms, both healthy and unhealthy, are often employed to manage emotional distress. However, the Bio-Emotive Framework emphasizes the importance of emotional processing over mere coping. Emotional processing involves experiencing, differentiating, and expressing emotions consciously to achieve better outcomes in life.
By engaging in emotional processing, individuals can update their perceptions, make better decisions, improve relationships, and break free from unconscious patterns that hinder personal growth. This can lead to a happier and more balanced life, as chronic emotional activation is reduced, allowing for greater access to relaxation, creativity, and motivation.
Furthermore, the framework highlights the impact of chronic emotional activation on physical health, including disrupted sleep, weakened immune function, premature aging, chronic pain, inflammation, and various diseases. Therefore, reducing or eliminating chronic emotional activation is portrayed as essential for maintaining both physical and psychological well-being, alongside practices such as exercise and a healthy diet.
The Bio-Emotive Framework offers programs tailored to different budgets, aiming to make its principles accessible to a wide audience.