There’s a concept in psychoanalytic theory called the corrective emotional experience. The classical definition of the corrective emotional experience is that it’s a therapeutic process where the therapist helps you experience what was previously a painful relationship by making it a healing relationship. The therapist does this by reenacting certain dynamics with you and then reacts to you in a way that is positive and different from what you expect. And when you continue to get these responses that are positive and opposite of what you’re used to, you began to heal by having an experience in real time that corrects what happened in the past.

That’s the classic way this concept was defined and used with therapists who practice psychoanalytic therapy. But there’s been an evolution in how the term is conceptualized. It can be thought of more broadly as an explanation for why you seem to be attracted to the same kind of negative relationship – this can even bleed into your close friendships.

This term comes from object-relations theory where people are called objects. And it’s about how you relate to central objects in your life like your mother. The idea of the corrective emotional experience CAN refer to the process of a person seeking a negative object or relationship, for the purpose of reenacting the negative dynamic in a way that allows you to correct the original negative experience.

In this video I give you three examples to illustrate how this works.

What can you do about this?
You start with examining the negative relationships and asking the following questions.
In these relationships what does the person do to you that makes you feel bad about yourself? It could be what they don't do, like she never complements you.
Then look at your relationship with your parents or your close caretaker. Which parent has a stronger impact on you?
Who are you closest to?
Which one who did you have a bad relationship with and why? If it was both, which was worse?

This video is part of my series of videos related to mastering your relationships. This series of videos cover love relationships, friendships and casual relationships at work and school. You can watch playlist here    • Master Your Relationships   and save it for when I upload new videos to it.


Disclaimer: All of the information on this channel is for educational purposes and not intended to be specific/personal medical advice from me to you. Watching the videos or getting answers to comments/question, does not establish a doctor-patient relationship. If you have your own doctor, perhaps these videos can help prepare you for your discussion with your doctor.

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