From Storm to Stillness: Specialized Counseling for Emotional Dysregulation
Have you ever been told you are “too sensitive,” “too dramatic,” or that you “overreact” to small things? Perhaps you feel like your emotions go from zero to sixty in a heartbeat, leaving you feeling exhausted, ashamed, and out of control. When you live with emotional dysregulation, it’s like living in a house with a hyper-sensitive smoke alarm—it goes off at full volume for a burnt piece of toast just as loudly as it would for a real fire.
At Cedar Tree Counseling of Oklahoma, we don’t see your intensity as a flaw. We see a nervous system that is working overtime to protect you. We provide specialized, evidence-based tools to help you turn down the volume of the alarm, expand your “window of tolerance,” and move from a state of constant reaction to a state of intentional peace.
What is Emotional Dysregulation?
Emotional dysregulation is the inability to flexibly respond to and manage emotional experiences. It isn’t just “having big feelings”; it is a physiological struggle to return to a baseline of calm after an emotional surge.
This often manifests as:
- Rapid Mood Shifts: Moving from joy to rage or despair with very little “middle ground.”
- Emotional Flooding: Feeling so overwhelmed by a feeling that you can no longer think clearly or make rational decisions.
- Prolonged Recovery: Taking hours or even days to “come down” from a stressful event or argument.
- Impulsive Reactions: Saying or doing things in the heat of the moment that you later deeply regret.
- Self-Soothing Struggles: Turning to unhealthy habits (overeating, substance use, or social withdrawal) because you don’t have the internal tools to calm yourself.
Our Specialized Clinical Approach: The “Bottom-Up” and “Top-Down” Method
We believe that true regulation requires a two-pronged approach: training the brain (top-down) and calming the nervous system (bottom-up).
1. DBT-Informed Skills Training (Top-Down)
We utilize the gold standard for emotional regulation: Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). We help you build a concrete “toolkit” for the moments when the storm hits:
- Distress Tolerance: Learning how to survive an emotional crisis without making it worse.
- Emotion Regulation: Identifying and labeling feelings, and learning how to change the ones you want to change.
- Mindfulness: Building the “muscle” of the mind so you can observe a feeling without being swept away by it.
2. Somatic and Nervous System Work (Bottom-Up)
Because dysregulation is a physical experience, we use somatic tools to help you regulate from the body up. Using Brainspotting and grounding techniques, we help you “thaw” the freeze response and “cool” the fire of anger or panic, teaching your body that it is safe to settle.
3. Parts Work & Self-Compassion (IFS-Informed)
Often, our “big reactions” come from younger parts of us that were hurt or ignored in the past. We help you identify these “protector parts,” understanding their positive intent while helping your “Adult Self” take back the driver’s seat of your life.
Why Do I Feel This Way?
Our specialists help you uncover the why behind the dysregulation, which often includes:
- Neurodivergence: ADHD and Autism often involve a more “sensitive” sensory and emotional processing system.
- Attachment Wounds: Growing up in an environment where your emotions were ignored or punished.
- Complex Trauma: A nervous system that has been “wired” for survival due to chronic stress or trauma.
- Biological Temperament: Simply being born with a more “vibrant” or sensitive emotional baseline.
The Goal: Not “No Emotion,” but “Regulated Emotion”
The goal of therapy at Cedar Tree Counseling of Oklahoma isn’t to turn you into a robot or to stop you from feeling. Your sensitivity is often the source of your greatest empathy, creativity, and passion. Our goal is to give you the agency to choose how you respond to your feelings, rather than being a victim of them.
Step Out of the Storm and Into Your Life. Contact a Licensed Therapist in Tulsa, OK
You don’t have to live at the mercy of your moods. Our counselors, specialists, and therapists in Tulsa, OK, are ready to help you build the internal foundation you need to feel sturdy, calm, and in control. Let’s work together to find the stillness you’ve been searching for. Contact Cedar Tree Counseling today to schedule your confidential appointment and begin your journey toward emotional mastery.