In adapting to the circumstances of growing up with relational trauma, most of us had to give up our innate sense of personal power or sovereignty
Generally, this meant having to forfeit our agency, vibrancy, energy, or creativity. Most of all, it meant no one was mirroring our emotions; no one “close” to us was there to help soothe difficult feelings or join us in sharing our delights and successes. In fact, for many clients I work with, the concept of having emotions is confounding and a little fear-inducing. Exploring our emotions can feel intimidating because some clients experience emotions as things that often come unbidden, and out of the blue. Often overwhelming, these emotions seem to either shut the client down or buzz them up with no rhyme or reason. A birthright, our emotional system gives us information about the world inside and around us. With Complex PTSD, that information system has been thwarted, shut down, or compromised. The task is to reclaim it, perhaps even learning it for the first time.
What I have found useful over three decades of clinical practice, teaching, and writing is to start with the nine innate affects elaborated by Silvan S. Tomkins. While there are currently many discussions about how many emotions humans have, I find it extremely helpful to build a foundation of understanding, beginning with nine basic affects. These affects are what Tomkins identified as the nine affects we’re innately wired with at birth. Coming into this world with these affects in place, they are ready to develop further into more complex emotions as we grow and mature. Learning these affects is an excellent starting point for understanding our internal guidance system, otherwise known as our emotions. I call these affects the “building blocks of emotion.”
The nine basic affects which Tomkins identified are below. There are two positive affects (interest and enjoyment), one neutral (surprise), and six negative affects (distress, fear, anger, disgust, dissmell and shame). As indicated below with the ellipses, we experience these affects on a continuum of intensity, from mild to more extreme.
In future posts, I’ll explore and describe our experiences of the nine affects more fully. What I want to leave you with at present is that even our “negative” and most difficult affects serve the purpose of giving us important information about ourselves and our world. They have evolved over eons to give us a survival advantage, and (re)claiming them in the present – as counter-intuitive as it may seem – can restore our vitality and a life worth living while managing CPTSD.
- Interest…Excitement
- Enjoyment…Joy
- Surprise…Startle
- Distress…Anguish
- Fear…Terror
- Anger…Rage
- Disgust
- Dissmell (a Tomkins neologism derivative of smell and the hunger drive; it’s an emotion calling for “distance”)
- Shame…Humiliation
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional or psychological advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Contact a qualified healthcare provider before implementing or modifying any personal growth or wellness program or technique, and with questions about your well-being. Copyright ©2024 Jennifer Lock Oman, LISW. All rights reserved.
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Jennifer Lock Oman, LISW, BCD, is a psychotherapist with over 35 years of professional experience. Her passion has been the study of human emotions, and their centrality in motivation, connection, and change. Currently, her interests also include the study of Complex PTSD and the clinical application of the Internal Family Systems (IFS) model of therapy to healing relational trauma.
I find this area interesting and I want to know more. I’m a survivor and have Complex PTSD.