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Hi all - I want to share an interesting psychological phenomenon that I’m seeing a lot of right now.
It’s called: institutional transference
Institutional transference happens when we put feelings about something other than work onto our place of work, or vice versa...
It’s called: institutional transference
Institutional transference happens when we put feelings about something other than work onto our place of work, or vice versa...
For ex: if you’re feeling unsupported by leadership at your company, you might start to feel that your spouse is unsupportive.
Or, if you’re feeling overwhelmed by all of the change happening amidst a global crisis, you might feel overwhelmed by even small changes at work.
Or, if you’re feeling overwhelmed by all of the change happening amidst a global crisis, you might feel overwhelmed by even small changes at work.
Institutional transference happens all the time, but I'm seeing that it’s especially intense right now. Why? Because we have a lot of feelings, & not a lot of control.
Add to that the guilt we feel for complaining while people are dying, and our emotions have nowhere to go.
Add to that the guilt we feel for complaining while people are dying, and our emotions have nowhere to go.
So, where do they go?
They get disguised as other, more acceptable issues. Like frustrations with our spouse, boss, or company. And so we fight or argue or feel targeted or hopeless or angry, and we have no idea that some of these feelings might be about something else entirely.
They get disguised as other, more acceptable issues. Like frustrations with our spouse, boss, or company. And so we fight or argue or feel targeted or hopeless or angry, and we have no idea that some of these feelings might be about something else entirely.
If new or worse-than-usual problems are popping up at work or at home right now, take a step back & think about what else might be at play.
And make room for the fact that we're all just doing our best during a very complicated time.
And make room for the fact that we're all just doing our best during a very complicated time.
