Notes From the Journey - Do You Have the "Urge to Purge"?

Have you ever had the unfortunate experience ofgraduate from the University of "I-TO-WE" with a
enduring a bout of food poisoning? I have and seenPh.D. in Emotional Intelligence., you will follow all of the
many friends and family members go through thatrules and also the pledge you solemnly swore upon
torment from time to time. And, let me tell you, it iscompletion of the Receiver course; "This is not about
not fun to watch or be the one enduring the pain.me! I am here for my partner and this is about my
When we have food poisoning, we have the "urge topartner's pain! This is not about me!"
purge." The toxic waste of whatever we ate infectsOf course it goes without saying that the Sender
the stomach and must be expelled. Our body is tellingalso follows the rules of the CDT. As the Sender
us, "I don't think so. I want no part of this. I can'tbegins to purge the toxic waste of pain, you as the
believe you ate the whole thing. You must now payReceiver, are emotionally present by looking them in
for the errors of your ways." The human defensethe eyes. You are mentally available to listen without
mechanism is relentless to force out the unwelcomeany other thoughts in your mind. You are grounded in
guest and rid itself of any remnants of its existence.your role to provide the safety the Sender needs.
In our relationships, we sometimes have this sameUnfortunately what I witness many times is that
affliction, but with a little twist. Take a moment andsome people, I say this with no disrespect, are
remember a time when you felt so flooded andemotionally unintelligent Receivers. If this is the case,
overwhelmed with negative emotions that you hadone of two things happens. Either they engage the
the "urge to purge" your thoughts and feelings.energy, react and poison themselves or they do not
Maybe it was at work when you were resentful of aallow the Sender to purge. In the latter case, they
co-worker or angry with a customer. Perhaps youusually will say; "Thank you anyway, but not now
were mad with yourself. Finally, we come to thedear" or "You should not think or feel that way."
category of our committed relationship, which thisHow about this all time favorite, "Just deal with it and
phenomenon, unfortunately, seems to occur moreget over it." When Receivers do this, it is like taking a
frequently then we would like.hand; covering the Senders mouth and making them
When our mind is focused on fear-based thoughts,choke on the toxic, painful energy. When this
we are unable to distinguish between past pain,happens, the Sender becomes sicker and sicker until
present reality and future anxiety. We then begin tothey erupt and believe me, you do not want to be in
create full length fantasy movies based uponfront of that mountain of energy.
distorted perspectives and unrealistic expectations.I know first hand how it feels to be on the receiving
When an everyday issue or situation develops thatend of an eruption because I was once very
does not match one or both, we create negativeemotionally unintelligent. But after many years of
energy. This painful energy then builds up until wediligent study and hard work, I can now say that I
release it in one of two ways; in an emotionallyam an emotionally intelligent Receiver. Unfortunately
intelligent or unintelligent manner.from what I hear, it appears I was not in the top ten
In my book, I explain the Conscious Discussionpercentile of my class. I guess, we never really
Technique - CDT. The CDT is a structuredgraduate. We always must be inspired to continue to
communication technique that enables the personlearn, stretch, grow, mature and change.
with the emotional poisoning to purge the negativeWe are human and we all need to purge at
energy in a healthy manner. This person is called thesometime or another, whether it is in a professional
Sender. The lucky recipient of the energy is calledrelationship, a personal relationship or the relationship
the Receiver.we have with ourselves. As long as we purge in a
When the Sender is filled with the toxic waste ofsafe, honest, peaceful and respectful manner, this
resentment, contempt and anger, they must have aprocess is very healthy. In order to Create
safe space to release the energy. In order for theEmotionally Intelligent Relationships, it is absolutely
Sender to purge, the other partner must learn to beimperative that we become masters of our
a Receiver and let me tell you, it is not an easy job.emotional domain and learn how to be phenomenal
We all know how to diagnosis the disease ofSenders and Receivers.
emotional poisoning. It is usually quite evident. TheIn a committed relationship, if one or both partners
question is how we show up to help our partner.are not able to send and receive their painful
The first step in the CDT is for the Sender to makemessages in a healthy and productive manner, the
an appointment to purge. When the Receiver knowspoison they have inside will grow like cancer until it
a negative message is about to be delivered, theymetastasizes into a Cycle of Conflict which can lead
have the time to prepare and anchor themselves into the ultimate death of the relationship.
this role in order to be able to receive the messageSo, the question from the journey is; Are you an
as is intended by the Sender. Being a masterfulemotionally intelligent Sender and Receiver? And if
Receiver is one of the most difficult and importantnot, what can you do to become one?
relationship skill sets to learn and perfect. As a