3️⃣📖 Peer Modeling
Underneath Every Struggle is Emotion
Understanding the common emotional experience underneath each struggle allows for us to find moments in our own stories to relate to theirs. To be human is to experience pain. We can relate to anyone’s internal experience of their external circumstances, even if we’ve never been experienced the specifics of their story ourselves. If you’ve struggled relating to a particular struggle, identify one or two emotional words below the struggle and identify moments in your story where you’ve felt something similar.
Self-Harm
Shame, “right”ness or justice, fear of being exposed, worthlessness
Sexual Abuse
Inescapable worthlessness and shame, powerlessness, desire to hide
Death & Grief
Sorrow, loss, deep sadness, unfixable pain, emptiness, loneliness
Suicide
Hopelessness, overwhelm, futility, powerlessness
Divorce
Defeat, anger, regret, resentment, waste, despair, futility
Eating Disorder
Inadequacy, self-criticism, imposter syndrome, self-hatred, disgust
PTSD
“Wrong”ness or injustice, grief, loss, regret, shame, self-hate, sorrow
Medical Disease
Hopelessness, powerlessness, feeling like an outsider, will never be normal
Depression
Numbness, hollowness, hopelessness, futility, loneliness, despair