How to practice self-regulation (2023)

Eric Baum December 16, 2022not categorized

In terms of emotional well-being, self-regulation is the process of controlling your thoughts, emotions and behaviors. When you self-regulate, you stop and think before taking any action related to an emotion or feeling. Everyone has some level of self-regulation, and improving this skill can help you improve your emotional well-being.

What is self-regulation?

Self-regulation has a wide range of definitions in subjects such as politics, economics and mental health. If we restrict the idea to mental well-being, self-regulation still has many nuances. In terms of emotional well-being, self-regulation includes these categories and elements:

• Behavioral versus emotional self-regulation:There are two types of self-regulation: behavioral and emotional. Self-regulation of behavior involves acting in your best interests, even when your feelings suggest otherwise. Emotional self-regulation refers to controlling intense emotions such as sadness and anger.
• The self-regulation process:The self-regulation process consists of three steps: monitoring your behavior, evaluating your behavior, and responding to your behavior. These steps involve thinking about your values ​​and how they relate to your behavior.

How to develop and practice self-regulation

There are many strategies you can use to improve your self-regulation skills. Everyone has an approach that works best for them based on our unique personalities and experiences. Self-regulatory strategies can include:

• Conscience:Many psychologists suggest practicing mindfulness if you want to improve self-regulation. With mindfulness, you can observe your thoughts, feelings, and behavior without judgment to make informed decisions.
• Cognitive reframing:The cognitive reframing process challenges your thoughts and replaces them with positive thoughts. By rethinking your thoughts, you can develop a healthier response to the situation.
• Emotional Competence:Your emotional competence is your ability to identify and understand your emotions and the emotions of others. To improve your self-regulation skills through emotional literacy, you need to understand why you feel a certain way and find healthy ways to deal with that feeling.
• Identify stressors and triggers:Everyone has certain stressors or trauma triggers that create difficult feelings.Identify these triggersThis can help you anticipate them and develop healthy coping strategies for them.
• conscious thoughts:Keeping calm and thinking rationally before reacting to a situation can help you practice self-regulation.try to relaxbefore reacting to a situation and thinking objectively about the consequences of what you want to do.

The importance of self-regulation in recovery

The recovery process involves practicing emotional and behavioral self-regulation. During addiction, someone responds to a negative situation by abusing drugs or alcohol. Recovery specialists help patients learn self-regulation techniques that help them find new ways to control this response. During recovery, patients learn to regulate their feelings and actions through healthy behaviors rather than substance use.

Practicing self-regulation in addiction healing

If you're looking to improve your self-regulation skills during recovery, an addiction treatment center can help you learn how to manage your emotions and behaviors. Places like 7 Summit Pathways offer medications and therapies to help you deal with your addiction symptoms and learn new behaviors. For more information on self-regulation in recovery, seecontact our teamÖBook your first datehello.