What is emotional flooding in therapy?
In therapy, emotional flooding is when someone is overwhelmed with difficult feelings or emotions related to experiences they’ve had.
This is why it’s so important to take it slowly with therapy. To work through a period of stabilisation and resourcing to support the nervous system from becoming triggered into an activated or immobilised state.
Read on to find out what emotional flooding is, its neurobiology, and what to do to prevent emotional flooding.
What Is Emotional Flooding?
Emotional flooding refers to a state in which an individual becomes overwhelmed by intense emotions. This is often as a response to stress, trauma, or conflict and when it occurs in therapy, can occur when a person is ‘confronted’ with difficult feelings or memories. In that moment these feelings or memories exceed their ability to cope.
A quick aside on terminology: I don’t like to use the term confronted. While this can be an unintentional result of therapy, especially in between sessions or if we move too quickly, a therapist who is trauma informed would never force a client to ‘confront’ their experiences. We invite gentle exploration when we feel a client is ready, but we are always looking at body language and for signs of distress. Even activation in our own bodies can be a signal through being attuned to our clients that they are becoming overwhelmed.
If we observe signs that a client is not okay, we support them to become embodied and present. This signals to the nervous system that they are, in fact, safe. Safety in the therapy room is beginning, middle and end for me. It is all about creating a safe, nurturing space.
But let’s discuss flooding, as it’s a useful thing for anyone who is considering undertaking therapy to understand and be aware of. When a person’s system is getting flooded with emotion, it can result in heightened physiological responses such as rapid heartbeat, shallow or stuck breathing, or even dissociation.
These are all natural responses of the autonomic nervous system. It is designed to do that when it senses danger. It is what it has evolved to do over millions of years.
When emotional flooding occurs, it can hinder communication and problem-solving capabilities, making it difficult for individuals to engage fully in the therapeutic process.
It is a sign that the nervous system is in a heightened state of reactivity, surpassing the threshold for emotional regulation - take us out of our ‘window of tolerance’. When this happens, the brain can revert to more primitive survival responses, leading to feelings of panic, fear, or a desire to withdraw.
The Neurobiology of Emotional Flooding
I do love to share a bit of science when it comes to therapy. I think it helps people to feel less helpless and hopeless if they know that their mind and body are simply doing what they were designed to do. And that they feel stuck in their cycle of fear due to the awful things they have experienced.
Knowing that it is simply neurobiology and not some kind of defect or disorder can be very comforting. And help people to break free of some of their self-blame.
So let’s get into it.
When faced with a stressor, the amygdala, a key player in emotional processing and part of the limbic system, is activated. It assesses the emotional significance of the situation, and when it deems it necessary, triggers the fight-or-flight response. As the amygdala is stimulated, it sends signals to the hypothalamus, which in turn activates the autonomic nervous system (ANS). This results in the release of stress hormones, such as adrenaline and cortisol, which prepare the body for immediate action.
With people who have been traumatised or have c-PTSD, this warning system has gone a bit squiffy. This can mean the amygdala is set at a sensitivity level that is too high, leading to too much cortisol being produced.
Think of it like a fire alarm. But instead of the fire alarm being set to detect smoke like when you’ve burnt the toast in the kitchen, it keeps going off all the time. Like, whenever the window is open, there is damp in the air, or if you’ve got a candle burning in the bedroom upstairs with all the doors closed. It’s working, but it’s almost too efficient.
During emotional flooding, the limbic system also inhibits the prefrontal cortex—the region of the brain (behind the forehead) responsible for rational thinking and decision-making. This hinders a person’s ability to process emotions and respond appropriately, as the heightened arousal state takes precedence over logical thought.
In the case of emotional flooding, individuals may experience difficulty regulating their emotions, leading to increased feelings of anxiety, anger, or sadness. Because their alarm system is set to be super sensitive and there are a cascade of effects throughout the brain as a result.
In therapy, it’s important to understand the neurobiology of emotional flooding so that the appropriate methods can be employed. These methods encourage body awareness and regulation techniques that target the nervous system, supporting individuals in processing overwhelming emotions and restoring balance.
How Does A Somatic Approach Help?
Ideally, we limit the likelihood of emotional flooding happening by ensuring we have stabilised and resourced the client as much as possible when we begin working together. This is so that they feel strong enough mentally to be able to deal with the emotions and memories that may arise.
Managing emotional flooding in the therapy room involves employing somatic approaches that emphasise the mind-body connection. Techniques might include grounding exercises, breath work, acceptance, diffusion and mindfulness practices to help clients reconnect with their bodies, calm their nervous systems, and create a safe space for exploring overwhelming emotions.
These techniques can be learned by individuals so that they can recognise emotional flooding when they aren’t in the therapy room. Which can happen when doing healing work. Being able to recognise the signs of emotional flooding, clients can work with their therapist to develop strategies to manage their responses. This gives them agency over their emotions and experiences , ultimately allowing greater emotional resilience and flexibility.
If you are interested in working with me, why not check out my services pages. I offer psychotherapy, trauma informed coaching, group work, and somatic movement workshops.
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