The bio-psychosocial model of emotional disorders

Everyone has painful internal experiences and most struggle with that pain at one time or another. Emotional disorders occur when the struggle with your internal experience is significant enough to interfere in your life or cause you persistent distress. All emotional disorders have three things in common: individuals experience strong emotions, they find those emotions aversive, and they avoid their emotions in some way.

I believe in a bio-psychosocial model of emotional disorders, meaning that biological processes are involved in the interrelation between your social world and of how you perceive and react to your world.

Psychological flexibility is the foundation of emotional wellbeing. It means being able to show up nonjudgmentally to the present moment and choose your reactions to your thoughts and feelings according to your values. Whereas those with emotional disorders respond to their thoughts, feelings, and behavioral urges with avoidance, responding with psychological flexibility includes openness, curiosity, and willing acceptance. My hope is to help you understand the emotional patterns in which you get stuck in avoidance in order to show you a more flexible way to respond.

Social factors that influence how you perceive and react to your world include everything from your sex and gender and your family culture to the historical context into which you were born. Your race matters. Your class matters. Your language matters. Your experiences growing up, your opportunities and your regrets all matter. Just as some are more privileged than others in the brain chemistry they were born in, some have access to healthier social environments than others. My hope is that this community is a healthy part of the social world you inhabit and that what you learn here helps you create a supportive social world around you.

Genetic and biological processes are more profound in some cases of emotional disorders than others. I believe strongly in the use of medication and interventional psychiatry to manage the biological processes that underlie distress when psychosocial interventions alone do not alleviate it. While I don’t have the credentialing to prescribe medication or other forms of medical intervention, I work with psychiatrists and make referrals to them. Although many people feel fear or shame about using medication to manage their emotional disorder, I believe it is courageous and humble to accept that biological processes occur in our brains without our control. Just as you don’t take your ability to taste or see personally, you shouldn’t take your brain chemistry personally.

You didn’t choose the brain you were born with, but how you respond to it is your responsibility. A bio-psychosocial model understands the limitations of each type of interventions as well as respecting and celebrating how different interventions can build upon one another. Regulated brain chemistry, psychological flexibility, and strong social support are all necessary components of emotional wellbeing.