Experiencing positive emotions are important for everyone, but are extremely necessary for someone who is a trauma survivor. Emotional numbing, which is a frequent partner to hyperarousal, appears as an "all-or-nothing" emotional response in some trauma survivors. Oftentimes, you will hear clients refer to feeling numb or "emotionally dead". Although your clients may have these feelings, they may also exhibit extreme reactions to mild stressors. A key point in this session is that emotional modulation is not only working toward the desire to reduce stress, but is also having the opportunities to increase experience of positive emotions.
Encourage your clients to seek out goals which are attainable and which will create a positive emotional experience for them. Planning and performing pleasurable activities is one way to help your clients reach a goal in their quest to create positive emotions. Positive emotions are:
