Rethinking Emotions

In this first episode of "Living With Feeling" - our new series about emotions in the 21st century - priest and writer Giles Fraser and psychotherapist Philippa Perry join Thomas Dixon for a lively conversation, tackling some big questions about the place of emotions in modern culture. Philippa, Giles, and Thomas discuss whether people are too ready to interpret painful or difficult emotions as signs of mental illness, and whether it is always true that "Your emotions are valid". Giles confesses to an emotional outburst in the middle of the night, and suggests we should all try to be a bit more like the Queen, while Philippa explains how important it is to be able to live with and contain our own feelings, and those of our children, without necessarily always expressing them. Thomas asks what Christianity and psychotherapy have to say about the idea that we are all emotionally broken or disordered in some way, and asks Giles and Philippa for their views about smartphones and emotions, and whether they would like to be cared for by a robot nurse, and if not why not. "Living With Feeling" is produced by Natalie Steed for Rhubarb Rhubarb, and supported by the Wellcome Trust. To find out more about the work of the Queen Mary Centre for the History of the Emotions, please visit The Emotions Lab website at emotionslab.org