We’ve all been there. Whether it’s a fight with a partner or a tense moment with a co-worker, something gets triggered and suddenly it feels like your nervous system has been hijacked. You say or do something you regret later and think: How could I have handled that better?
The frustrating part is that trying to “think” your way through it in the moment often doesn’t work.
“When you’re mid-fight and your nervous system is flooded, your rational brain is offline,” Erica Schwartzberg, somatic therapist at Downtown Somatic Therapy, told HuffPost. “That’s why ‘just calm down’ or ‘let’s talk about this rationally’ doesn’t work. You have to regulate your body first. Then your brain comes back online, and you can have a productive conversation.”
But when you’re already dysregulated, it helps to adjust your expectations. As Toni Teixeria, licensed clinical social worker at Strong at the Core Counseling...
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