SPIRAL SPIN STRUCTURE WANTS
Your emotions - Your map
Pauline Pearson is a mental health social worker and psychotherapist in private practice in Melbourne, Australia. She has worked across mental health, hospitals, a university, and private practice for thirty years.
The House Within framework was developed from that clinical experience.
Imagine a world without maps ....
For many of us, one emotion follows another. We don't know why, or what we'll feel next. Our emotions are in charge.
Imagine arriving in a new world without a map. Confusing! Frustrating! Overwhelming! How would you find where you want to go?
Our inner worlds need a map too. One that is easy to read.
You need a map that shows you where you are emotionally — and how to move to a place where you are in charge of your emotions.
Somewhere your emotions are not in charge of you.
A House with 5 Floors — A Simple Map
Imagine there is a house inside your emotional world. Your House Within.
Imagine your house has 5 floors, one above the other. The floors have names — Attic, Upstairs, Ground Floor, Basement, and Cellar.
Each floor is a different state of mind. Different feelings, different thoughts, different reactions — and a completely different view of the world.
Everyone has all 5 floors. You do. I do. We all do.
A spiral staircase joins all the floors. When we move between them, the staircase spins. We spiral up and down emotionally.
Use this map to locate which floor you are on — which state of mind you are in. Then learn how to change floors when you want to.
That is what The House Within offers you.
Look inside.
Can you see your House Within? Can you see your Attic, Upstairs, Ground Floor, Basement, and Cellar?
Can you feel your staircase spin higher and faster as you spiral up into the Upstairs and Attic? Slower and lower as you spiral down into the Basement and Cellar?
This is a moving map.
A living map of your emotional world.
| Floor | What it feels like | Zone |
|---|---|---|
|
Attic
|
Overwhelmed, unable to think, panic, emotional outburst. | Hyperarousal 2 |
|
Upstairs
|
Overthinking, over-worrying, catastrophising without data. Busy mind. Head spinning. Striving for something but our thinking is unproductive. | Hyperarousal 1 |
|
Ground floor ★
|
Emotion and productive thinking coexist. The floor of values, meaning and purpose. Only floor where we are genuinely grateful and compassionate. The spiral staircase does not spin. We make progress towards something we want to achieve that is good for me and others at the same time. | Window of Tolerance |
|
Basement
|
Negative self-talk, giving up, no point trying, everyone else has what I don't have. Bitterness and resentment. | Hypoarousal 1 |
|
Cellar
|
It's all about me and what I want. Anything goes. No care for self or others. No responsibility. Addictions take hold here. Emotional games played from this floor. | Hypoarousal 2 |
Overwhelmed, unable to think, panic, emotional outburst.
Overthinking, over-worrying, catastrophising without data. Busy mind. Head spinning. Striving for something but our thinking is unproductive.
Emotion and productive thinking coexist. The floor of values, meaning and purpose. Only floor where we are genuinely grateful and compassionate. The spiral staircase does not spin. We make progress towards something we want to achieve that is good for me and others at the same time.
Negative self-talk, giving up, no point trying, everyone else has what I don't have. Bitterness and resentment.
It's all about me and what I want. Anything goes. No care for self or others. No responsibility. Addictions take hold here. Emotional games played from this floor.
"The only thing we can truly control in life is our own state of mind."
Mad in Italy · March 2026
Article on The House Within Framework — now published.
Read Publication →Your state of mind is your most valuable possession — and the only thing in life you can truly control.
Your state of mind affects everything you do and how you experience every aspect of your life.
Learning to understand and manage your emotions is the most important work you will ever do, because how you manage your emotions is who you are, and impacts everyone you meet.
— Pauline Pearson
Individual Counselling Sessions
I offer a limited number of individual sessions for people who want to work with the framework directly. Zoom and phone sessions available.