Eruptions

COPING BEHAVIORS / ERUPTIONS

Oftentimes our response to hurt can be like that of a volcanic eruption. Our unhealthy coping behaviors cause painful repercussions and suffering to ourselves and those closest to us. Eventually these are visible for all to see. Unhealthy coping mechanisms mean something. They may be a cry for help, an attempt to survive, to relieve pressure, or to medicate pain, but unfortunately, these eruptions can have mighty consequences. If a volcano were erupting and it was possible to jam a giant rock into the top and end the eruption, like putting a cork in a bottle, what would happen next? The magma reservoir underneath would push its way out and erupt at another location on the mountain. If we “corked” that eruption like the first, then what? Sound like a whack-a-mole game? Therapy approaches that treat only the current eruption and not the core underlying issue work the same way. A whack-a-mole game with a life, marriage, or family. The core of magma beneath the surface is what drives volcanic eruptions - with human beings, it’s a person’s deeper pain, emptiness, numbness, or fear that drives their eruptions. Healing the core is vital to stopping the eruptions and keeping them stopped.

1. When you are hurting, what behaviors/eruptions do you respond with?
2. What deeper pain, emptiness, numbness, or fear drives the behaviors/eruptions?
3. How do your behaviors/eruptions help you? (Remember, they serve a purpose. You use them because they work).

By focusing efforts on three core systems, we can create lasting and healthy change. Success is not found in one of the systems alone, but rather in doing the work necessary in all three areas. Coping Behaviors / Eruptions represent one of the three systems.