Module 1. Mindfulness: (Discussion #7) Wise Mind
DBTuesday is a series of posts where we explore skills and concepts from dialectical behavior therapy (DBT).
This is one of several posts focusing on mindfulness, which is the first module of DBT skills training. See this post for general info about DBT and this post for more info about mindfulness.
Three states of mind
One of the central concepts of DBT is “Wise Mind”. The starting point is the idea that there are three different states of mind:
- Reasonable Mind
- Emotional Mind
- Wise Mind
Wise Mind is when reason and emotion are working together.
1) Reasonable Mind
Reasonable Mind involves approaching things based solely on facts, logic, and intellect.
- Advantages: good at planning, able to critically evaluate situations, pragmatic and practical
- Disadvantages: disconnected from emotions and values, might pursue actions that seem correct but don’t ultimately feel right or bring happiness
2) Emotional Mind
Emotional Mind involves approaching things based solely on emotions.
- Advantages: connected to personal feelings and values; can help with finding motivation to act, avoiding danger, empathizing with others, expressing oneself, and experiencing a sense of excitement or joy
- Disadvantages: can be impulsive, short-sighted, addictive, distorted, self-destructive
3) Wise Mind
Wise Mind involves integrating reason and emotion. It has the advantages of both Reasonable Mind and Emotional Mind without either of their disadvantages
Wise Mind is also greater than the sum of its parts. When reason and emotion come together, this can give rise to an experience of intuition:
- Having a physical/felt sense that something just “feels right”
- Feeling confidence/trust in one’s actions
- Having certainty or knowledge that something is correct
Example
Let’s say that someone is having a conflict with a co-worker at their job and is feeling unhappy with their job as a result.
- Reasonable Mind might ignore any feelings of dissatisfaction and justify this by focusing solely on beneficial things that the job provides (e.g. income, benefits).
- Emotional Mind might do something hot-headed like yelling at the co-worker or suddenly quitting the job while ignoring the possible long-term impact.
- Wise Mind might consider both the objective advantages of the job and the subjective feelings of dissatisfaction and try to come up with a course of action that respects both sides (e.g. talking with that co-worker, asking a supervisor for help, starting to look for jobs but not quitting immediately).
Reflection
Have you ever had any experiences of Wise Mind?
Sources:
https://www.dbtselfhelp.com/html/mind_states.html
https://www.verywellmind.com/the-purpose-of-emotions-2795181
https://bayareadbtcc.com/accessing-wise-mind/
@QuietMagic good post, do both. Always work in wise mind.
@Happyspringseasysouth4887
Glad you liked it. 😊
I know I'm personally not in that kind of state all the time, but when I am it's pretty nice to have all of the different parts/sides working together and to feel comfortable with what I'm doing. Seems to happen most often for me when I'm either journaling or just daydreaming.
I believe, I have both reason and emotion in evaluation. The question is what governs more at the moment. I noticed, I have more of emotional mind sometimes, almost without reasoning, but I also saw much how my mind makes very definitive reasoning under negative emotions. It feels like the logic of the logics. I'd myself strongly prefer to be rather reasonable than emotional, but it doesn't always work. I recall, I had a tendention to structurize what is happening to me, but I based only on logic without properly admitting my emotions. They were there, somewhere on their own, I suppouse.
@windSpirit
Yeah, it sounds like things sort of oscillate and sometimes emotions are dominant while other times reason is dominant. Maybe a question might be: what's a situation where it feels like the two are in conflict (emotions want one thing but reason would say something else)?
@QuietMagic
Yeah, in this light such situations of conflict do happen, and I find myself stuck at times. Thanks for pointing to this.
