Christian Counseling For Emotional Blind Spots

You are what you think, which affects how you feel, which determines how you behave. Imagine that there are multiple ways to handle any given situation. Our emotional history shapes how we perceive the world and whether we need to fight or escape. Many of us have lived long enough to have a specific bias regarding people, places, and things. Life experiences predispose individuals to depression and anxiety, which can result in a range of dysfunctional behaviors. How we think has a direct correlation to how we behave. When we ruminate over negative or harmful thoughts we can develop emotional blind spots.

According to an ophthalmologist, we all have a tiny spot in the back of the eye that has no mirror reflection-a blind spot. The same sort of thing can happen with your emotions. An emotional blind spot can produce cognitive distortions that impede the ability to see life in a balanced way. “You are what you think,” and it may keep you from living in a state of peace. Our lives are inundated with visual and physical stimulants that can trigger a negative response. Our minds want so badly to rationalize what is happening that we fill in the emotional blanks with information that may not be true. When we chose to guess, we live in the blind spots of life. Want to change your life? Then change the way you think. One of the benefits of counseling is identifying where emotional blind spots reside and how to clear up distortions.

Stress Can Cause Emotional Blind Spots

“Thought patterns and beliefs inform and shape our actions and behaviors.” Experts have found that specific colors can affect our moods and subsequently our emotions and behaviors. It is incredible how changing into a brightly colored outfit can change your disposition. If color can change our view on life, imagine the negative impact an abusive relationship, divorce or abrupt change in our employment can affect our emotional stability?

Often these dramatic events leave us feeling like someone has sucker punched us. We feel ill-equipped to handle the physical and emotional trauma that ensues. We find ourselves blinded by the overwhelming feelings of betrayal, disregard, humiliation and low self-worth. Subsequently, our authentic self becomes lost in the shuffle. We find it hard to catch our breath and regain our footing. Our blind spots are amplified when dealing with life stressors. We wonder how we got into the situation in the first place and if we will ever get out! The pain overwhelms us because our minds cannot quite grasp the internal inconsistencies that produce anger, resentment and anxiety. Seeking help to process our blind spots and renew a different way of perceiving life can help us move forward instead of staying stuck with our negative stuff.

Biblical Counseling Provides Insight to Our Emotional Development

Romans 12:1, 2 says “we are not to be conformed to the world, but we are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds so that we can demonstrate and prove the perfect will of God.” Renewing the mind is not a one- time event. Ask anyone struggling with addiction. It is an ongoing process of casting down imaginations that do not line up with the divine call or purpose that God has for your life.

The purpose of individual or couples counseling consists of exposing the blind spots of our dysfunctional beliefs that ultimately affect their behavior. Individuals who struggle with depression and anxiety are living in the blind spots of their lives. It becomes a situation where under desperation, individuals with depression and anxiety have trouble reconciling with the “reality of choice.” Desperate people fail to see there is a plan A and plan B; instead of no plan at all.

Intentionally Looking Beyond Our Blind Spots

Emotional blind spots tend to block the ability to contemplate possibilities outside the confines of the crisis. When we challenge distressing thoughts of doubt or fear, it gives the brain an opportunity to remind itself – “Wait a moment, I have options”. When we don’t feel that we have options, we find ourselves paralyzed by racing thoughts that consume our waking moments! Reprogramming our thoughts and actions takes a deliberate act of seeking productive coping skills. It is a mind renewing opportunity each and every day.

1 Peter 1:13 says, “Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (NASB). It is important that we manage what we allow to enter our spirit and how it affects our thoughts and behavior.

• Prepare your mind: When you do not prepare your mind for action each and every day, you leave the door open to just about anything to affect how you think and feel. Mindfulness and meditation are focused ways to prepare our minds spiritually for the vicissitudes of life.
• Remain sober: To have a sober spirit speaks of increasing your capacity for the things of God over concentrating on the things you cannot control. Sober speaks to remaining vigilant and aware of what triggers emotional exhaustion, anger outbursts, and depressed mood swings.
• Fix your hope: Hope- to fix your gaze on the best of things while holding onto the reality in front of you. To make an active choice to change your way of thinking. Hope embraces the belief there is something higher and greater than yourself that sustains you. This is the hope- believing in the unseen incredible possibilities of God.

Seeking the Help of a Christian Counselor

You are what you eat and you are what you think! What you feed yourself physically, spiritually, and emotionally has significant impact on how you view who you are and how you behave. It takes a consistent method of taking information in and then processing out what is not productive. Renewing your mind challenges your behavior in order to strengthen your resolve to be authentic. It takes time and attention to become aware of emotions and behaviors that blind your ability to walk in divine purpose. Changing the manner in which you see life has a great deal to do with transforming to the next dimension of faith, integrity and peace. Everyone experiences blind spots along life’s way. Help is just a phone call away.

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