Stress Relief Tool - Disassociate In A Movie Theater

We've all had those encounters with people that are stressful, arguing with another person and the negative emotions that linger long after the argument is over. If you've recently had such an event and you're still being bothered by the negative emotions that came from that, disassociating from the event in your mind can help you get much-needed stress relief. The process is as follows: Step 1: Close your eyes and imagine yourself with that other person in the same environment in which the negative encounter happened. Step 2: Once you have that situation in mind, rate the score of your emotional charge from a scale of 1 being low to 10 being high. Step 3: Next, imagine yourself sitting in a movie theater watching a movie of you and that other person having that negative encounter. Step 4: Once you have that visualization in mind, again rate the score of your emotional charge from the scale of 1, low, to 10, high. You will likely have a lower score than before. Step 5: If your score is still higher than you like, now imagine yourself in the projector room looking at yourself sitting in the movie theater watching the movie of you and that other person. Step 6: Once you have that visualization in mind, rate the score of your emotional charge from a scale of 1 to 10. You will likely have an even lower score than before. The reason this technique works is because when we associate into the experience, such as in Step 1, we have access to all the feelings of that experience. However, when we are disassociated, outside of the experience, such as in Step 3, the feelings will be less intense. And by using double disassociation, such as in Step 5 above, That reduces your emotional charge even more. So the next time you are experiencing negative emotions from an encounter with someone, imagine yourself in a movie theater and enjoy the stress relief that comes from it.