Have you ever found yourself looking back on a frustrating conversation with your spouse, a co-worker, or your child and asked the question “Where did those feelings come from?”

What about trying to explain your feelings to another person, only finding you aren’t able to express yourself with words or feeling totally overwhelmed?

Most of us at some time have experienced these feelings, and perhaps you were outside your window of tolerance.

The term “Window of Tolerance” was coined by Dr. Dan Siegel to describe the zone of emotion response where you are able to function most effectively. When we are outside the window of tolerance, we find that our emotional responses are either in the direction of hyper-arousal or hypo-arousal. Hyper-arousal is often called “fight or flight” and often includes wanting to run away, feeling overwhelmed, or impulsive actions. On the other hand, hypo-arousal, is the opposite emotional state in which we experience a “freeze” response, and experience an emotional shutting down or feeling emotionally disconnected.

What can you do to stay within your window of tolerance? There are several calming and relaxation skills you can learn that can help. Also, sometimes a person may have a history of trauma in their life, and learning how to deal with the effects of trauma will help you to stay in your window of tolerance or help you enlarge your window of tolerance.

Our counselors at Tapestry Counseling are trained to help you identify and develop the skills necessary to learn to effectively manage your “Window of Tolerance”. During this time we are offering both in office sessions and virtual sessions. Give us a call today.