What is REACT?
REACT
We cannot expect to be any more successful at controlling our emotions than a ship at sea can expect to slow the tides or stop the coming of a storm. Too often our immediate response to a challenging emotion is to try to shut it out. This often backfires on us and can become the start of a pattern of maladaptive behaviors such as rage or addiction, and we end up acting on impulse rather than reason - emotions end up controlling us (for example, acting out of anger and throwing your phone on the ground when you feel insulted) when we seek the feeling of control. The key is to acknowledge the power of emotion and what we feel is not totally in our control. An analogy can be made to how we experience the climate. We cannot expect to will the rain to stop and rain clouds to disperse, but what we can do is adapt to the rain by using an umbrella or wearing rain boots for the puddles. What is key is acknowledging the weather, our emotions to be what they are and something not to be ignored - if we happen to be caught in the rain, we will be rained on - this is inevitable no matter if we acknowledge that it is raining or not.
When we acknowledge an emotion or feeling and how it impacts us, what we are doing is engaging our cognition and becoming more mindful. Over time, by engaging in self-awareness, we are able to pause and reflect and reason. On the physiological level, our brain's autonomic response has less of a hold on us as mindfulness and self-awareness engages the prefrontal cortex and the grip of the trauma response (from the parasympathetic system) dissipates. Dialogue with others also helps with engaging our prefrontal cortex and finding balance.
REACT is an acronym for Respect, Empathy, Acceptance, Courage, and Trust. It is an exercise of self-examination and social awareness to help reinforce mindfulness in a holistic way.
What does social awareness have to do with mental health? We begin with the premise that mental health has a social "attachment" aspect as well as it being about emotions, memories, self-identity, and sense of objectivity/reality. So much of how we experience mental health is in the context of relationships. For example, there might be something from an exchange of words that we find rude and offends us and rattles us emotionally. So much of what we as counselors see in counseling is a client feeling self-doubt and insecurity from a challenging relationship. Their presenting mental health problem is manifest in relationship. After all, we are relational beings, and we depend so much on relationship for information about ourselves. And, so much of what we need for balance and well-being comes from being in dialogue with others, whereas being disconnected and in isolation almost guarantees a negative mental health outcome. We are not meant to be alone.
With REACT, we consider our mental health as having an "outward" social attachment-based dimension as well as an "inward" one. With REACT, we take an inventory of both the outward and inward. It is an inventory we can run through when we find ourselves in a challenging situation or something we do on a regular basis as we would with an examination of conscience. Familiarity with the elements of REACT helps us consider how our emotions intersect with our thinking and choices. Gauging our capacity at any given moment in these aspects helps slow us down and engages us in self-reflection - slowing down is essential in helping us process complexity.
RESPECT
Outward: Am I showing respect for other people?
Inward: Am I respecting myself and acknowledging my potential? Am I paying attention to my mental or physical health needs?
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