Joe was the name I gave to a complex and often conflicting set of emotions. Exploring "Joe" was like exploring any emotional state in therapy. It was in my second session ever that my therapist asked how I was feeling and I said I had so many feelings I couldn't name just one. I started crying and after a few minutes my therapist handed me a new box of tissues and asked me what I would call this set of overwhelming emotions. He was wanting to know if it was anger, sadness, etc. I couldn't handle the heaviness of my emotions in that moment and blurted out that I would call it Joe because I had no other name for it.

Releasing "Joe" was a long process. Identify and verbalize specific emotions. I was processing years of emotional and verbal abuse from my ex. Replacing my negative emotions with positive ones through physical action was huge. I volunteered at my local recycling center and was able to crush a number of boxes while verbalizing my emotions. I could throw plastic stuff and crush cans while naming all the events that caused "joe".
Color therapy and art therapy were effective for dealing with ptsd and triggered episodes and flashbacks. Art has become a very important part of my life in the last 10 years. Creativity is my go to coping mechanisms for dealing with things like stress, anxiety, loneliness, sadness, fear, and most negative emotions. I haven't felt consuming anger in a long time and haven't had a ptsd flashback in about a year.

I apologize if this comes off as a bragging about my therapy success or personal growth style post. I don't really know how to describe the processes from a clinical approach. The clinical process has never been that important to me. I've always just focused on my goal of stronger, healthier and happier and doing the work to get there. I'm proud of myself and how far I've come. Thanks for being curious about things.

**edit to Clarify- whenever I haven't been able to describe all the emotions I'm feeling in a therapy session, my T suggests using the Joe/Jane technique because it works for me. My current T was ok with using this method too. No idea if there is a psychology term for this.