What happens in your child’s head?

Many of us have seen the cartoon “Puzzle”. It shows the baby brain control room. The publicities of the child work so that he feels safe and happy. The plot of the cartoon becomes interesting when Fear, Anger, Joy, Disgust and Sadness begin to fight for control.

For example, when Fear takes over, the child cringes. When Anger is the main thing, the child begins to swear. So we understand that all these characters reflect the emotional experience of the child.

But such a model actually works. The cartoon pretty accurately shows how our emotions work. There are also whole areas of psychotherapy that use similar models. For example, one of the ideas of systemic family psychotherapy is that within each of us there are several parts, or subpersonalities, that interact with each other and determine our behavior.

Back to the cartoon “Puzzle”. He largely explains children’s behavior. Imagine a typical situation: a three-year-old child asks you for a blue cup that he likes. When you give him a cup, he becomes hysterical. If you ask him: “Why?”, He will answer: “Because you gave me a blue cup.” Continue reading →