Who would study psychology if they didn't have some kind of problem?

Chapter 266 [Emotional Memory Rewriting Method]

"Today's consultation is to reinforce your cognitive shift."

"The method we'll be using is called the 'Emotional Memory Rewriting Method'."

Nan Zhuren first set the theme for today.

Li Minglu nodded repeatedly.

The "cognition" that Nan Zhuren is referring to at this time is not the "basic cognition" of Li Minglu, who "hopes to recreate his former family".

Rather, it reflects Li Minglu's perspectives when encountering other problems in his life.

Or to put it more directly, it was the "direct cognition" that triggered Li Minglu's suicide.

“You said before that the day you had the urge to ‘do something stupid’ was because something had happened that caused you to have a lot of bad ‘thoughts’.”

Li Minglu nodded.

Nan Zhuren elaborated: "And the generation of those 'thoughts' must have brought some bad 'emotions' that made you feel 'uncomfortable'."

Li Minglu continued to nod.

“Okay, now we need to start with some recollections.” Nan Zhuren began the first step of the day, “Of all the things that made you feel ‘uncomfortable,’ which one made you feel the most uncomfortable?”

Upon hearing this, the atmosphere around Li Minglu immediately took a sharp turn for the worse.

[His eyes are unfocused; he begins to recall.]

[Pressing lips, clenching fists, tensing muscles around the neck—they begin to relive an emotional experience, and an unpleasant one at that.]

"It was... before I left the house, during breakfast..." Li Minglu stammered.

He swallowed, saying, “At that moment, I saw that my son and daughter were both...very upset, and my wife was scolding them...I felt that it was all my fault, that I had made the family so dull, and that it had even affected the children.”

"I was thinking... if it weren't for me, at least the children might have a better life."

Because he was speaking to Nan Zhuren, Li Minglu managed to say these words, albeit haltingly.

However, it was clear that Li Minglu was having a hard time speaking.

For a typical counselor, having a client with depression recall past experiences and re-examine thoughts that could trigger suicidal behavior is a risky step.

Because counselors must have the ability to pull clients out of their emotions in a timely manner.

Fortunately, Nan Zhuren was already quite familiar with this.

"Having this thought is consistent with the impression I've always had of you—that you are a very family-oriented person."

"And the fact that you can recall these painful thoughts during counseling is a great step forward for our counseling."

Nan Zhuren skillfully offered a positive response and support.

At the same time, he said this with a hint of admiration and a heartfelt joy at the further progress of the consultation.

[Emotional contagion] is activated simultaneously.

--all of a sudden.

Li Minglu's emotional baseline, which had just dropped, was precisely pulled back by Nan Zhuren's [joy].

He twitched the corners of his mouth, seemingly pleased with his progress. Nan Zhuren, seeing this, also smiled.

Indeed, the ability to "contagious emotions" proved remarkably effective when counseling clients with depression.

When Nan Zhuren first acquired this ability, his immediate thought was to use it in the current situation.

"Since this 'breakfast' scene is the one that makes you feel the most uncomfortable, let's mark it as [Scale 10]."

Nan Zhuren patiently guided him: "Next, I want you to find one thing from all the thoughts that made you feel uncomfortable that day, the one on scale 5. We'll use that thing to train today's emotional memory rewriting."

This is another little trick to prevent visitors from getting too caught up in negative emotions. It's a technique that can be implemented even if you don't have the ability to "contagious emotions"—using numbers like "scale 10" or "scale 5" to make a vivid feeling more abstract and written down.

This can effectively prevent visitors from overexperiencing their emotions, while also allowing them to face their emotions from a more objective perspective.

"And at the same time—"

Nan Zhuren's gaze swept over Li Minglu's wrist.

Last time, when Nan Zhuren checked whether Li Minglu had injured himself, he noticed that Li Minglu had a habit of wearing a bracelet.

This time, he wore the same bracelet as last time.

The rope is woven from hemp and has a rough texture. It also has some perforated pendants that look like wood, which Nan Zhuren doesn't recognize.

"I forgot to ask last time, is there any story behind your bracelet?"

The topic jumped a bit too far, and Li Minglu was stunned for a moment, but quickly caught up with Nan Zhuren.

"This is a 20th birthday present I made for myself. The wood on this piece was my first drawing board. Later, it got too old to use, so I personally sawed off the better parts, ground them into small pieces, polished them, and strung them together to make a bracelet..."

It is not expensive, but it is a personal accessory with strong commemorative significance.

Do you bring it often?

"I wear it every day, and I've never changed it."

Nan Zhuren nodded in satisfaction: "Very good. Now, when you recall the emotional event of [Scale 5], I hope you can touch the small wooden blocks on this bracelet."

The wooden blocks on Li Minglu's bracelet are too small to be polished like beads.

But at this moment, as Li Minglu stroked and caressed the small wooden block, he inexplicably felt a sense of peace emanating from his fingertips.

When recalling negative emotions, those bad memories are like a gray curtain, covering the little people in your heart; but the touch from your fingertips at this moment is like an anchor falling from the sky, always keeping an opening above the gray curtain.

During this process, Nan Zhuren did not go out to disturb Li Minglu again.

"Regarding the matter of [Scale 5]..." Li Minglu slowly recalled.

"That day, when I was preparing to draw, I didn't have any inspiration. So, I went to look through my old chat history with Lao Xue—Lao Xue is my editor, and I usually communicate with him when submitting my work."

Li Minglu explained for a moment, then continued, "When I looked through those chat logs, I felt really sorry for Lao Xue. I felt that my illness must have put Lao Xue in a difficult position, and I felt that what I was drawing now was actually garbage. Lao Xue only accepted these bad works on purpose to help me out."

"Therefore, I think—would Lao Xue be better off without me?"

"At the same time, because I kept thinking about this, I didn't draw a single stroke that day."

After stating this idea, Li Minglu smiled at Nan Zhuren: "Of course, I now know that these ideas are wrong..."

(End of this chapter)