A recipe book for feelings. What's that? Do you get tongue-tied? Do you often forget your words just as they are at the tip of your tongue? Do you know people who are "closed books" and never verbalize what they are feeling? Words. Somehow, they seem to be trapped within us. I'll bet you have felt bottled up with excitement, worry, or deep sadness and wished you could say in concrete terms what lay within your heart. Why is it so difficult to bridge feelings and thoughts and place them into simple language? As a therapist, I have observed people who live in silence, or who communicate ineffectively what they really feel. This is not a reflection of intelligence - it is often a lack of knowledge of emotional language and how to use it.. Simply, people do not know the words to say which truly expresses thier inner voice or present frame of mind. Do You Get the Feeling began as a pet project. I wondered, could I create a language that would be useful for others? Could I hand someone a choice of emotional writings and have them identify their feelings? I closed my eyes, attempted to transport myself into other people's lives and experience what they had gone through. My pet-project soon blossomed into 150 compilations of rich emotions. Do You Get the Feeling is a smorgasbord of 150 emotional scripts which can be easily implemented with cognitive behavioral techniques. It is a valuable tool for the clinician, educator, counselor, drama teacher, ESL instructor and anyone who enjoys being in touch with that softer side of themselves. It is my hope that these write-ups will be a springboard to strengthen communication between friends, spouses, parents and children, and ultimately, open a beautiful world of self expression to the reader.
