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What Is Your Emotional Tolerance Window?
Franco Greco • Aug 18, 2020
Our chances to learn something new depends on our level of emotional activation
The diagram at the bottom of this articles shows that three zones we can often find ourselves in: the window of emotional tolerance, hypo-arousal and hyper-arousal.
When a person is within their window of tolerance, it is generally the case that the brain is functioning well and can effectively process stimuli. That person is likely to be able to reflect, think rationally, and make decisions calmly without feeling either overwhelmed or withdrawn.
During times of extreme stress, people often experience periods of either hyper- or hypo-arousal.
Hyper-arousal, otherwise known as the fight/flight response, is often characterized by hypervigilance, feelings of anxiety and/or panic, and racing thoughts. This what psychologist Daniel Goleman called emotional hijacking. No change can occur in this either
Hypo-arousal, or a freeze response, may cause feelings of emotional numbness, emptiness, or paralysis.
Emotional Learning
Joseph Le Doux described two major pathways for processing incoming information:
- The so-called lower (but faster) pathway in the brain's limbic system (reflect the older stage in the development of the brain), driven primarily by precognitive (basic emotions). This pathway is needs based, driven by contingencies; and
- the slower pathway, including cognitive procedures, in the cortical areas of the brain.
Early Experiences Creates Emotional Memories
Every intensive emotional experience in childhood leads to imprints in the evolving neural pathways of the child and builds up schemas.
Schema - combining with one's temperament and early experience - develop early in life ... when most of the cortical anatomical structures are built. Traumatic childhood experiences lead not only to bad memories ... but to lasting impacts on brain development. Schemas carry these emotional wounds.
A schema is like a footpath in the neural structure of the brain. They cannot be deleted. They are like a short video clip storing early childhood memories along with scenes of intense emotions and bodily reactions. Once a schema is activated, a person can acts in ways automatic and reflect emotional memories as seen through a child's eyes.
Changing Schemas
By developing additional pathways we can build - by learning - new neural roads and not be emotionally hijacked.
How is this done in therapy. Schemas need to be activated to be transformed and rescripted. In therapy, we have to create the environment to build new connections and emotional experiences.
This can not be achieved through purely cognitive interventions but can be done with imagery work when emotions get readily activated. Corrective emotional experiences lay the new neural tracks (in terms of positive schemas) for new paths to take on a behavioural level. Good intentions need a neural bedrock to be able to lead to a new behaviour. This is why experiential techniques and behaviour experiments are privotal in therapy.
Only when the level of activation stays within the so-called emotional tolerance window is new information processed.
As a therapist it is my role to keep the level of activation high enough so that key schemas get activated, but low enough to prevent the clients from shutting down.
I hope this explains the window of tolerance and why it is important in therapy and learning.
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