![]() However, the process of emotion and thought that occurs under the surface, behind the scenes or ‘inside’ is where true meaning and understanding can be established. We place an emphasis on behaviour because it is often all we have to go on, in that it is observable, obvious and what we can see. We are all multidimensional beings who experience emotion, thought and behaviour. To the onlooker, it just looks like an outburst that has occurred out of the blue, but, with the insight into the intrapersonal process, we get a sense of the build-up and, therefore, the meaning behind this behaviour. This observable interpersonal behaviour (anger) occurs as a result of an intrapersonal process where emotions ( anxiety, sadness, disgust and joy) interact with each other to trigger the resulting behavioural outburst. This is illustrated really well in the scene in the movie where Riley gets explosively angry at the family dinner table. Often, the interpersonal aspect of our communication is founded upon or originates from our intrapersonal processes, and this can be a core concept of understanding the resulting behaviour. Most psychological schools of thought will agree that these two concepts are linked. We are all familiar with the concept of interpersonal communication, which involves how we interact with each other, but the concept of intrapersonal communication is more concerned with how we relate to, and interact with, ourselves. The most impressive aspect of Inside Out is the emphasis on intrapersonal communication. Intrapersonal and interpersonal communication However, anyone who is psychologically aware will realise that, often, emotions exist as multiplicities and the interaction and understanding the ‘cause and effect’ of these emotions on other behaviours can be a central aspect of psychological work. The co-existence of more than one emotion at one time can be confusing and can seem like something that we are reluctant or unable to describe, as there is an urge to describe only the dominant emotion. Not only does this movie demonstrate metaphors of emotion and thought, through the representation of inner characters, it goes on to explore the interaction of emotions with each other, which is often a phenomena that we neglect to consider. Therefore, it is really refreshing to see a movie that dedicates its complete plot line to processing and understanding emotion. Emotionality is often not neat and can be messy, and so it has to be ‘processed’ and elaborated on rather than deduced and minimised. We are encouraged more and more to limit our words into the neatness of 140 character descriptions, which do not lend themselves to emotionality. Once we can name a feeling, we can begin to understand it, and when we understand it, we can begin to deal with it.Ĭulturally, we are moving more and more towards brevity when it comes to language and communication. One of the core concepts of any therapy is to facilitate a person to put words or meaning on feelings, which can be a significant challenge. ![]() More specifically, learning to put language on emotion can be a real challenge. The use of metaphor in Inside Out is fantastic.Įmotionality is something that we all struggle with. ![]() This is because something that is described in a ‘once removed’ way is far less threatening and, therefore, more prone to understanding. One of the approaches that can be used to explain quite complex emotional concepts to children is metaphor. I feel that the age group that this movie is especially relevant for would be the tweenagers (10-13 years old), but I can see how the powerful metaphor inherent in this movie would appeal to people of all ages. This theme allows the viewer to distinguish between and connect the relationship of inside (intrapersonal) and outside (interpersonal) communication.įirstly, the fact that this movie is engaging, high quality and entertaining is both unique and helpful, because many of the movies that contain a mental health message can be quite ‘arthouse’ and ‘dark’, and are not suitable to a child audience. The storyline is superbly interwoven between Riley and her parent’s experiences of inside and outside their heads. The emotionally representative characters in Riley’s head undergo a crisis where ‘Joy’ and ‘Sadness’ get lost in her long-term memory and must find their way back to the ‘control base’ where the other emotions are located.
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