Concepts
The irreducible epistemic atoms underlying the curriculum. 4,828 atoms across 8 types
Use vigorous physical activity for twenty to sixty minutes…
Use vigorous physical activity for twenty to sixty minutes to metabolize stress response chemicals and signal cycle completion to the nervous system.
Stay in contact with the emotion throughout physical…
Stay in contact with the emotion throughout physical activity rather than using movement to escape feeling, to enable genuine completion rather than temporary suppression.
Discharge peak emotional arousal through physical activity…
Discharge peak emotional arousal through physical activity before attempting cognitive work that requires working memory and abstract reasoning.
Route moderate emotional arousal into structured analytical…
Route moderate emotional arousal into structured analytical work to leverage the heightened attention, persistence, and memory consolidation it produces.
Set explicit time and output constraints when channeling…
Set explicit time and output constraints when channeling emotion into cognitive work to prevent productive analysis from degrading into circular rumination.
Use visual or sensory creative modalities when emotions…
Use visual or sensory creative modalities when emotions resist verbal articulation, allowing somatic experience to externalize without requiring narrative structure.
Create without evaluating aesthetic quality during…
Create without evaluating aesthetic quality during the emotional channeling process, as self-assessment activates critical circuits that block emotional flow.
When you experience an emotion in a relationship…
When you experience an emotion in a relationship but attribute it to the other person without conscious awareness, your behavior pressures them to enact that emotion, transforming your projection into reality through a self-fulfilling feedback loop.
Treat confident attributions about another person's internal
Treat confident attributions about another person's internal emotional state as projection alerts requiring self-examination of your own suppressed emotions before acting on your interpretation.
Practice cognitive defusion—observing patterns as mental…
Practice cognitive defusion—observing patterns as mental events rather than commands—to create a gap between pattern activation and behavioral response.
Recognize bids for connection by distinguishing…
Recognize bids for connection by distinguishing the relational function (request for presence/attention/validation) from the surface content (the topic being discussed), as most bids are designed to maintain plausible deniability.
Prioritize developing capacity to repair relational ruptures
Prioritize developing capacity to repair relational ruptures over preventing all ruptures, as rupture-repair cycles build the implicit expectation that disconnection is survivable and relationships can hold difficulty.
Build emotional safety through accumulating small deposits…
Build emotional safety through accumulating small deposits (moments of attentiveness, responsiveness, and consistency) rather than through single dramatic acts, as the nervous system continuously evaluates safety through pattern detection across hundreds of interactions.
Create conditions where honesty costs nothing by responding…
Create conditions where honesty costs nothing by responding to vulnerability with empathy rather than judgment, as vulnerability is not a personality trait but a response to environmental safety cues that the nervous system evaluates pre-consciously.
When holding more power in a relationship (formal authority…
When holding more power in a relationship (formal authority, financial control, social status, emotional leverage), bear disproportionate responsibility for creating safety through consistent deposits, as your withdrawals carry more weight and the less powerful person has fewer alternatives.
Acknowledge your own emotional state aloud before attempting
Acknowledge your own emotional state aloud before attempting analysis of conflict to create psychological distance and signal authentic engagement.
Use 'always' and 'never' as diagnostic markers indicating…
Use 'always' and 'never' as diagnostic markers indicating you have shifted from observation to character-level evaluation.
Structure feedback as specific-behavior + actual-feeling +…
Structure feedback as specific-behavior + actual-feeling + underlying-need + concrete-request to prevent defensive escalation.
Transfer full ownership of emotional labor domains including
Transfer full ownership of emotional labor domains including conception, planning, and monitoring—not just task execution—to achieve genuine redistribution.
Maintain physiological regulation during another's emotional
Maintain physiological regulation during another's emotional storm by using extended exhalation breathing, softened facial expressions, and open body language to broadcast ventral vagal safety signals that enable co-regulation through neuroceptive channels.
Encode patterns at the structural level (relational systems)
Encode patterns at the structural level (relational systems) rather than surface level (specific elements) to enable transfer across contexts.
Identify your internal working models by tracking emotional…
Identify your internal working models by tracking emotional expectations that repeat across different relationships, then test whether these expectations reflect current partner behavior or inherited templates from early attachment experiences.
Use affect labeling during emotional dysregulation by naming
Use affect labeling during emotional dysregulation by naming the other person's emotional state in simple, tentative language rather than interpreting their motives, which reduces amygdala activation and re-engages prefrontal processing capacity.
When physiological flooding occurs, use contrasting…
When physiological flooding occurs, use contrasting statements to restore mutual purpose by explicitly stating what you don't want the other person to fear alongside what you do want to communicate, which repairs safety before resuming difficult content.