In my last post, I talked about my love of Inside Out and highlighted three therapeutic-take-aways.  Now I will be providing an overview of Inside Out 2. Then I’ll discuss some elements I’m excited to start applying with my therapy clients.

Spoilers Ahead!

Joy, Sadness, Fear, Anger, and Disgust have come a long way and value and support each other.  Joy displays anger at always having to fulfill her role to find the positive. She embraces sadness, and when needed solutions can’t seem to be found, feels despondent. Anger shows a more whimsical side and Sadness embodies a growing self-confidence.  

Riley is now thirteen and embarking on puberty. There are more lessons to be learned and more adventures to be had; including introducing new emotions: Embarrassment, Ennui, Envy, and Anxiety.  The lessons now involve understanding how a sense of self is developed and maintained… or changed, as we shall see.

Hello, Anxiety

The plot of this movie revolves around Riley attending a three-day hockey camp.  On the way, Riley learns that her best friends will be going to a different high school in the fall.  Now, she is faced with a dilemma. Should she use camp as a last hoorah with her friends? Or forge alliances with the older girls at her school? Should she make memories with her friends? Or focus on impressing the coach to secure herself a spot on the team?

Here is where we meet Anxiety, who prioritizes planning for the fears that Riley cannot see.  She can weigh out different possible outcomes and home in on a course of action most congruent with Riley’s goals.  At least that’s what she intends.  She becomes so preoccupied with achieving these goals, and avoiding negative feared outcomes, that she (paralleling Joy from the original film) does not want Riley to be influenced by the original emotions. Anxiety banishes them to “the back of Riley’s mind” – a place where Joy had been discarding awkward and uncomfortable memories.

Without the original emotions, Riley starts acting in ways incongruent with her sense of self and her values. Anxiety goes on, unchecked.  She believes that to achieve her goals, Riley’s motivation must derive from overgeneralized, and at times catastrophic, “if, then” statements.  These new thought patterns start to form a new sense of self, one oriented to a core belief of “not being good enough.”  The weight and pain of this belief, along with fears of being alone, send Riley spiraling into a panic attack. Joy and the crew make it back to headquarters, with the help of Embarrassment, who sensed Anxiety was going down a dangerous path.

It’s All Important

Joy tries to save Riley by replacing the new anxiety-strewn sense of self with her old sense of self but it won’t take.  Riley isn’t that girl anymore.  Joy realizes she had been using avoidance again by discarding the uncomfortable memories.  She recognizes that Riley is made up of all her memories; their accompanying emotions and the associated thoughts: good, bad, and everything in between.  In allowing Riley to connect with all aspects of herself, she makes her way through the panic attack. From there she is able to receive kindness from her friends, take accountability for her actions, and breathe into the joy of hockey.

Working Together

The movie concludes with Anxiety flaring up. However, she is able to be grounded with the help of Joy and a myriad of self-soothing tools, such as a cup of tea and candles.  We see the whole set of emotions working more effectively together, honoring and valuing what each has to offer.   Furthermore, we see Riley’s sense of self as evolving and changing as she navigates dialectically holding all aspects of herself and learning who she is in this next stage of life.

Impressions

The imagery for sense of self is stunning, and deeply relatable.  I love when art captures what is so difficult to express in words.  It is poignantly captured by the way sharp edges moved into soft lines and the colors changed and morphed into one another. I don’t think our sense of self ever becomes completely set. Rather, as depicted, it ebbs and flows, with some aspects more strongly rooted and others adjusting as we are confronted with new challenges.

Therapeutic Uses

In the mere days since Inside Out 2 has been released, I have already discussed it with multiple clients! Here are some of the themes we’ve explored:

1. How we experience anxiety can vary. Part of therapeutic healing can be about shifting whether Anxiety is in a swirling vortex, at the console running the show, or enjoying a cup of tea in her massage chair only providing occasional input.
2. Anxiety is correlated to the thoughts and beliefs we hold about ourselves, others, and the world (though the movie only focused on the former). It often emphasizes feared and seemingly intolerable outcomes. The more we can become aware of these thoughts and detangle them from our sense of self, the more effectively we can understand and work with our anxiety.
3. To fully know and honor ourselves, we need to hold all aspects of ourselves. The more we try to avoid what is uncomfortable, painful, embarrassing, etc., the more we invalidate our human complexities and make it harder to be kind to ourselves, give and receive kindness from others, and live our lives based on our values.

Considerations

Of course, no movie is perfect.  Some things to consider.

1. The internalization of thoughts and the development of a sense of self starts long before the age of 13.  Ideally, these elements would have been included in the first film (if the creators could have predicted there would be a second).
2. The movie emphasizes the thoughts Riley has about herself, particularly generated from Anxiety and the projections she elicits. (FYI, technically projection is the wrong term. Projection is when we impose traits of ourselves on others. What is shown in the film more like fantasy or the “stories” we tell ourselves about what might happen.)  In reality our thoughts are deeply influenced by the messaging we receive from key adults in our lives, the ecological systems we are a part of, and society at large.
3. The depiction of Riley’s panic attack was striking. And, just like in the first film (with the model of depression), Riley’s acute distress is resolved rather quickly and without external input. It would be nice if it were this easy in real life, and it rarely is.

Overall, not too shabby for a “kid’s” movie! Much food for thought and some delightful laughs along the way.

For Clinicians: I hope this inspires you to think of these movies in new ways with the added nuances of the role of thoughts and sense of self.  I also hope it offers imagery and language for talking to your clients about their thoughts, how different emotions manifest in their lives, and how all this influences the sense of self!

For Those Seeking Healing: As described in my first post, not every aspect of these movies may resonate with your lived experiences.  Hopefully, despite these differences, you can still both enjoy the films and experience some benefit. Those benefits might include finding new ways of putting words or images to your experiences and having hope for positive change through connecting with all aspects of yourself.