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What is Emotional Flooding?

What is Emotional Flooding?

Emotional flooding, also known as emotional overwhelm, refers to a state in which a person becomes overwhelmed by intense emotions or an excessive amount of emotional stimuli. It can feel as though the emotions are flooding or overpowering the individual, making it...

Thoughtful Discipline

The Expiatory Cycle: A Guide for Thoughtful Discipline

by Robert V. Smith, M.D. and Jack D. Love, LMFT.

The expiatory cycle is the original idea of my late friend and colleague, Bob Smith. It is a simple model intended to help parents recognize the profound importance of discipline. The expiatory cycle deals not only with the role of discipline in regulating and shaping your child’s behavior; but also its impact on guilt, shame, forgiveness, reconciliation, conscience, and even self-esteem and confidence. Perhaps most importantly, the expiatory cycle provides a framework for strengthening the parent-child relationship. Since we consider the parent- child relationship to be the foundation for future relationships, we consider discipline to be the cornerstone of effective parenting.