#25: MBT Group Therapy > Between Losing Control and Trying to Hold Yourself Together

<p>🎙️ Special Episode – “Between Losing Control and Trying to Hold Yourself Together”</p><p><br /></p><p>Welcome to this special episode of the MBT podcast.</p><p>In this group session, an intense conversation unfolds about control, helplessness, and the fear of what happens when emotions become too overwhelming to keep pushing away.</p><p><br /></p><p>What makes this session powerful is how clearly it shows that many group members, each in their own way, are trying to maintain control over tension, insecurity, and overwhelming emotions.</p><p><br /></p><p>Today, we listen to a group session where themes such as self-criticism, emotional control, not feeling seen, and the struggle between feeling and avoiding come to the surface.</p><p><br /></p><p>⸻</p><p><br /></p><p>🧠 What this episode explores</p><p><br /></p><p>Being overwhelmed by emotions</p><p><br /></p><p>Several group members describe how emotions can suddenly hit without warning.</p><p><br /></p><p>Frustration.</p><p>Anger.</p><p>Sadness.</p><p>Helplessness.</p><p><br /></p><p>Feelings that once seemed manageable</p><p>can suddenly take over completely.</p><p><br /></p><p>And that loss of control can feel frightening.</p><p><br /></p><p>⸻</p><p><br /></p><p>Keeping the lid on emotions</p><p><br /></p><p>The session reveals how differently people try to cope with emotions.</p><p><br /></p><p>Some spend years suppressing and controlling their feelings.</p><p>Others experience emotions exploding in every direction with almost no control at all.</p><p><br /></p><p>But both responses serve the same purpose:</p><p>trying to protect yourself from being overwhelmed.</p><p><br /></p><p>⸻</p><p><br /></p><p>Self-criticism and pressure to perform</p><p><br /></p><p>An important theme in this session is the harsh way group members look at themselves.</p><p><br /></p><p>Doubting yourself.</p><p>Always needing to do more.</p><p>Never feeling truly good enough.</p><p><br /></p><p>Compliments are difficult to accept,</p><p>while mistakes become painfully magnified.</p><p><br /></p><p>⸻</p><p><br /></p><p>Not feeling seen</p><p><br /></p><p>The painful feeling of not being important enough also strongly emerges.</p><p><br /></p><p>When someone finally becomes vulnerable,</p><p>but feels that nothing is really done with it,</p><p>pain and disappointment quickly follow.</p><p><br /></p><p>The group explores how deeply this feeling can hurt —</p><p>especially when someone is genuinely trying to ask for help or be honest.</p><p><br /></p><p>⸻</p><p><br /></p><p>Old patterns under stress</p><p><br /></p><p>What this session strongly highlights</p><p>is how quickly old survival patterns return under pressure.</p><p><br /></p><p>Trying to stay in control.</p><p>Shutting down emotionally.</p><p>Exploding in anger.</p><p>Or disappearing into yourself completely.</p><p><br /></p><p>The therapists help the group slow down and stay curious about what lies underneath these reactions.</p><p><br /></p><p>⸻</p><p><br /></p><p>🌟 The common thread</p><p><br /></p><p>The central theme of this episode is the tension between trying to stay in control and allowing yourself to truly feel.</p><p><br /></p><p>The fear of being overwhelmed</p><p>exists alongside the need to finally be honest about what is happening inside.</p><p><br /></p><p>Mentalizing helps people not to immediately run away from emotions,</p><p>but to pause and explore what is truly being triggered —</p><p>within themselves and in connection with others.</p><p><br /></p><p>⸻</p><p><br /></p><p>💬 Closing</p><p><br /></p><p>This episode shows how difficult it can be to allow emotions when you have spent years learning to protect yourself from them.</p><p><br /></p><p>But it also shows how important it is not to carry everything alone.</p><p><br /></p><p>Sometimes, change does not begin with controlling emotions,</p><p>but with the moment you dare to admit:</p><p><br /></p><p>“I don’t know how to handle this right now.”</p>