Envy is a universal emotion, present in every social group. Its evolutionary function can be traced in the activation of the motivation to act behaviors oriented to improve one’s position in the social hierarchy. Or to change the distribution matrix of available resources.
Therefore, It cannot be defined as “negative” emotioninappropriate or to be eliminated.
Often envy is experienced against other individuals who obtain results that are desired and within the reach of the one who feels this emotion.
Literature offers definitions of construct of envy which distinguish between forms of dysfunctional or malignant envy, and functional or benign forms.
Functional or benign envy
Functional or benign envy can be assimilated to concept of admiration And it can be associated with emotions such as curiosity, appreciation, gratitude, satisfaction, excitement.
This form includes the evolutionary advantage of motivating and pushing the individual to undertake actions to improve his current state, for example by increasing his performance.
When envy is benign the individual who experiences it is more focused on himself and on his needs than on comparison with the other.
Dysfunctional or malignant envy
Contrary, dysfunctional or malignant envy is focused on comparison with others And it does not include an increase in motivation to improve, but rather a decrease.
It is generally experienced when we evaluate that another person’s success can threaten our status, highlighting our inferiority or our failure. It is associated with different cognitive, emotional and behavioral consequences.
On the cognitive level it can be associated with the presence of dysfunctional processes and source of suffering such as rumination or mobble as well as levels high of self -criticism.
On the emotional level, it can be associated with angry, hostile and resentment affective states. Or it can induce the subject to experiment with painful emotional states that include sadness, shame, impotence and demolition.
Malignant envy and destructive tendencies
On the level of the tendency to action and behavior, impulses to the aggressive action that lead to fantasizing, planning or implementing actions at:
- discredit or sabotage the person subject to envy,
- diminish its qualities,
- lead her to bankruptcy.
In some cases these fantasies or plans of shares are associated with feelings of pleasure or gratification. Also, malignant envy can lead to advancement and retreat, or to the adoption of strategies such as complaints and Excessive reassurance search.
Given the emotional, cognitive and behavioral behavioral consequences, malignant envy can therefore significantly damage the relational, social and working functioning.
Clinical work on malignant envy
In psychotherapy, a work oriented to reduce the dysfunctional methods associated with malignant envy can therefore be useful, integrating them with other more advantageous.
For example, a goal may be to learn to work productively oriented towards one’s result (instead of comparison with the other), with a lower emotional expenditure, and to be able to appreciate and draw satisfaction from the results that can be achieved.
The treatment of evido in Therapy scheme
There Therapy schemeas a flexible and transdiagnostic approach, offers different therapeutic opportunities. For example, for complex patients, personality, relational, couple problems and also for the management of problematic emotions.
In an interesting intervention held by Dr. Olga Ines Luppino, in the context of workshop “The Therapy scheme to work on shame, envy and anger”, a treatment proposal for dysfunctional envy that is based on the use of the use has been described chairworking.
Consistently with what has already been described, this intervention is based on one conceptualization of advance which provides for the possible presence of two different parts: a good or functional (which admires) and a malicious or dysfunctional.
Chairworking as the main technique
In particular, two different practices are described chairworking.
The first practice of chairworking It aims to help the patient distinguish the two different components of advance. In particular, the patient, led by the therapist, “sit” the functional part and the dysfunctional part on two distinct chairs.
Also, the patient is guided in theembody the different partsthus increasing their awareness.
Finally, the possibility of observing the chairs (and therefore the two different parts) by a third perspective, external, is promoted in the patient. This with the aim of further training awareness and promote the possibility of making one active movement between these parts who are within him.
The advantages of this technique
The comprehensive nature of the chairworking It means that the understanding that the patient acquires does not stop at a level of merely didactic, rational or cognitive knowledge. In fact, it also allows you to “feel” the activation of the different parts, experimenting with its physical attitude and the tendency to the typical associated action.
For example, the patient will be able to recognize and hear how the malicious part is associated with the presence of rumination and mobbleto a physical stiffening, to a focus on the other person. He leads him to a real blockage or a tendency to act on the other, constantly comparing himself or arriving to adopt aggressive actions, losing sight of himself and his own needs.
Such “EXPENSIONAL” awareness It will be able to promote the possibility that the patient, even outside the session, can grasp certain body signals and reorient his behavior in a functional way for himself.
Beyond awareness
Once the patient’s awareness is increased and he is able to label the different parts of advance, the next work proposed is oriented to abandon dysfunctional mechanismslike those of constant confrontation with others.
The therapeutic proposal in this sense is to use a different chairworking that it is oriented to stem the voice of the demanding critic (responsible for constant confrontation and feelings of inadequacy). To then provide a powerful message of repairing To the emotional part child who in the past has been deprived of unconditional honors.
In particular, the demanding critical item is identified, “put in a chair” and compared and argued directly by the therapist.
The intervention to contrast the demanding critic ends with Active involvement of the patient That “He puts it out”, turning the chair.
Therapy reporting in the scheme
The proposed intervention allows the patient to experiment with relief and, consequently, grants the therapist the possibility of enter into relationship with the vulnerable emotional partwho feels inadequate.
This offers the precious opportunity to provide her with an important message of repairing. The message of repairing offered is based on the concept that The patient is fine exactly as he isthat its value is not in being “first”, but unique, with its skills but also with its vulnerability and limits.
The final purpose is that the patient may increasingly replace the old internal disfunctional messages of the demanding critic with these messages of repairing. To support this process even more, the proposed exercise ends with the voice registration of the message of repairing and with the assignment of thehomework to listen to it.
The interventions proposed, consistently with the rational work in the Therapy scheme, therefore aim to:
- promote the validation of emotions
- Increase awareness of the components of avidia
- loosen the parts that lead to the adoption of dysfunctional behaviors and attitudes
- Move a shift of focus on the other hand, increasing access to one’s needs
- enhance the parties that allow to take care of their authentic needs underlying emotion, in a healthy and functional way
Bibliography
- Leahy, RL (2015). Emotional therapy scheme. New York: The Guilford Press (Trad. It.: Emotional therapy scheme. Beliefs about emotions and emotional regulation strategies in metacognitive therapy. Eclipsi, Florence, 2016).
- Leahy, RL, Tirch, D. & Napolitano, La (2011). Emotion Regulation in Psychotherapy: a Practitioner’s Guide. New York: The Guilford Press (trad. It. The regulation of emotions in psychotherapy. Practical guide for the professional. Edizioni Centro Studi Erickson Spa, Trento, 2018).
- Luppino, Oi (2023). The Therapy scheme to work on shame, envy and anger (Webinar). Italian Academy of Therapy scheme (IAST).
