The Value of “Negative” Emotions

© 2002 Fred P. Gallo, Ph.D.

Our ability to relieve negative emotions has become an amazingly simple and
straightforward task with energy psychology. All we need do is target the systemic or
context-based negative emotion and apply our meridian-based interventions to produce
relief. A few additional adjustments and in many instances the problem is resolved. This
is truly wonderful in that we are able to help clients overcome trauma, specific phobias,
generalized anxiety, depression, anger/rage, addictive urges, limiting core beliefs, etc.
The old way involved examining the basis of the emotional response to arrive at a deeper
understanding, after which various psychotherapeutic approaches—such as reframing or
other cognitive restructuring—were introduced to help clients let go of the negative
emotion and to make appropriate adjustments in their lives.

But wait! That doesn’t sound all that bad. Although the old way may not have been
rapidly efficient, it involves recognition of something that may be easily forgotten if we
rely simply on “tapping” routines. There is a responsibility involved in alleviating
negative emotions that should remain in the forefront of every therapist’s mind. Although
understanding may not be the necessary and sufficient condition in order to experience
relief, it still has tremendous value.

For example, let’s take guilt. Some people experience excessive guilt feelings for no
good reason; whereas, other instances of guilt are right on the money. Obviously it isn’t
always inappropriate to feel guilt. Guilt can be divided into ontological guilt and guilt
feelings, and often the twain does not meet. By ontological guilt, I am referring to
violations of accepted principles of moral conduct. You know—Thou shalt not steal, kill,
waste natural resources, etc. Then there’s the affect—the emotional response to such a
violation. When we’re wired correctly moral violation result in visceral kinesthetic
responses called guilt feelings. When the wires are crossed, we either don’t experience
guilt feelings at all or the affective intensity is awry; the punishment doesn’t suit the
crime, so to speak.

However, guilt feelings can actually be among the most civilizing of emotions, since they
can help us to chart a course of doing to others what we would have them do to us. To
some extent, guilt feelings can help us to be more spiritual.

All negative emotions can be useful, and we ought not to overlook this fact. Anger may
be a signal that we have been taken advantage of or that there is some eminent danger.
Anxiety signals a perception of danger. Jealousy lets us know we may be in danger of
losing someone or something that “belongs” to us. The threat of shame can save us from
becoming social outcasts. And the list goes on.

The point is that we should always be cognizant of any important message that is being
conveyed by a painful emotion. Since emotions are divided into two primary categories
—negative and positive—we may be tempted to commit the error of equivocal terms by

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equating negative with bad. Of course, emotions are not bad. They are internal signals
or messages that are important aspects of a fulfilling life.

One of the most interesting ways to combine energy psychology methods with
discovering the basis of a negative emotion is to use energy meridian tapping with
elements of focusing. Focusing is the name that researchers at the University of Chicago
gave to a faculty that successful psychotherapy clients either inherently know how to do
or can be taught to do. The process involves tuning in to what is referred to as the felt
sense—a conglomeration of kinesthetic sensations that contain underlying messages.
Focusing then involves defining or translating the felt sense. I have found that this can
also be applied to any number of specific emotions. The process involves getting beneath
the felt sense or the specific emotion in order to understand what it is about, where it is
coming from, what the communication is. An emotion is a felt thought. The skills
involved in focusing are relevant to mental health in general.

Focusing can be enhanced when combined with stimulating relevant meridian points. I
have often found that tapping on triple energizer-3 (between the little and ring fingers on
the back of either hand) or using the negative affect erasing method (NAEM)—also
called the midline energy treatment (MET)—can be useful in clarifying and translating
the kinesthetic response—the felt sense or specific emotion. As clients develop a clearer
sense and appreciation as to why they feel the way they do, this level of insight combined
with meridian tapping “desensitization” offers useful synergy. For example, some people
find it quite difficult to clarify a felt sense when it’s intensity level is either too high or
too low. The tapping will adjust the intensity to the needed level as the client proceeds
with the intention to understand the meaning of the sensations.

As a case example, a recent client came to see me because of “stress,” which she rated as
ten on a 0-to-10 scale. I asked her to pay attention to where she felt the stress in her
body. At first she said, “All over,” but as she focused more closely, she noted that it was
primarily located in her chest and stomach. I then asked her to say, “I’m stressed” while
attending to the sensations. The “stress” level remained a ten. Since the sensations did
not decrease with this statement, I felt that she was not describing the experience with
sufficient accuracy. When people define their sensations precisely, there is usually a
reduction in the intensity of the kinesthetic response owing to the fact that the sensations
have been correctly translated and understood. The releasing is akin to acknowledgment.
“Thank God he gets my drift!”

Next I asked her if there could be a better word or phrase to describe this feeling.
Although she spent some time pondering this, she could not come up with a more suitable
description. I gathered that the intensity was such that she could not see the forest for the
trees. I then guided her to physically tap with two fingers several times at each of the
following NAEM locations: center of her forehead (i.e., the third eye point), under her
nose, under her bottom lip, and at the upper section of her sternum. This resulted in a
decrease in the stress level to seven. She then said that a more accurate word would be
“pressure,” since she observed “Some of the pressure in my chest and stomach decreased
after the tapping.”

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It occurred to me that the word “pressure” is a noun and that we might look for an even
better word in the verb department. So I asked her to announce, “I feel pressured.” As
she said this, she seemed to be more congruence in her posture, facial expression, and
tone of voice. She then reported a significant decrease in the sensations to a four.

Next I asked her to think about the source of being pressured while tapping on the NAEM
points. After a round of tapping she said, “I feel pressured by my family. It seems I’m
not allowed to be myself.” The sensations decreased to a two.

With further clarification, she was able to report that her parents and her sister have been
the source of the pressuring. She told me about an event that occurred a couple years
previously when she was going to get married and her parents and sister “pressured” her
to postpone the wedding, since they did not believe that she was ready to marry. The
postponement led to the engagement being called off altogether, and she had been living
in regret ever since. She was now involved with another man that her parents and sister
liked, but she was not feeling the connection she would like. She was still longing for a
relationship with her former fiancé. As a result of that session she decided to get in touch
with the “fiancé” to discover what was possible. More importantly, she came to trust her
ability to “know my own feelings” and to do what is right for her. When I last saw her she
was not feeling stressed and was in contact with her “fiancé.” She wasn’t feeling
stressed.

The felt sense and emotions are maps of our spiritual territory that require clarification so
that we can better navigate our journey through life. In some instances to simply
desensitize the “negative emotion” without coming from a deeper level of understanding
can interfere with finding our way. As the Sufi poet, Rumi, said, “Welcome and entertain
them all! Because each has been sent as a guide from beyond.”

More about Energy Psychology and Energy Tapping:

Furman ME, and Gallo FP: The neurophysics of human behavior: Explorations at the
interface of brain, mind, behavior, and information, Boca Raton, 2000, CRC Press.

Gallo FP: Energy psychology: Explorations at the interface of energy, cognition,

behavior, and health, Boca Raton, 2005, CRC Press.

Gallo FP: Energy diagnostic and treatment methods, New York, 2000, Norton.

Gallo FP, and Vincenzi H: Energy tapping, Oakland, CA, 2008, New Harbinger.

Gallo FP, editor: Energy psychology in psychotherapy: A comprehensive source book,

New York, 2002, Norton.

Gallo FP: Energy tapping for trauma, Oakland, CA, 2007, New Harbinger.