The Eyes and Emotion Regulation: Helpful Tips for Counselors

Abstract

Emotion suppression is considered a maladaptive form of emotion regulation and is transdiagnostic of numerous mental disorders, including depressive, anxious, and trauma disorders. Existing eye-movement-based interventions, such as eye movement desensitization and reprocessing, use eye movements to access subconscious content and reduce the intensity of associated affect. This article presents information on the neuroanatomy of the eyes, including that the retinas are entirely made of brain tissue. The article then examines the literature on the eyes and their relationship to the nervous system, emotion regulation, emotion suppression, psychopathology, assessment, diagnosis, and treatment planning, and it explores interventions that use eye movements and contraindications of their use. It also provides resulting helpful tips about all these subjects for counselors to incorporate into their daily practice, and it indicates where further research is needed.