Free tools:
Worksheet to practice the 5 steps
- This worksheet will guide you through the steps of labeling your emotions, with space to write your body sensations, thoughts, emotion families, and specific emotions.
Emotion lists
Emotion Families Sheet (PDF)
Feelings List (PDF)
- Created by Thom Bond, based on Marshall Rosenberg’s work.
- App to practice labeling. Created by the How We Feel Project.
Noticing physical sensations
Physical Sensations Vocabulary List (PDF)
- To help you identify what you’re physically experiencing, use this list of different physical sensations.
Common thoughts and physical sensations
Common Thoughts and Physical Sensations with Emotion Families (PDF)
Self-Compassion exercises for processing emotions
Self-Compassion Exercises by Kristin Neff (Audio)
Self-Compassion Exercise (RAIN) by Tara Brach (Audio)
Noticing thoughts exercise
Leaves on a Stream exercise (Audio)
To learn more about labeling emotions, check out:
“Name It to Tame It” Video from Therapy in a Nutshell (YouTube, 12.5 minutes)
“Permission to Feel” Podcast Interview with Marc Brackett (52 minutes)
Understanding Emotions blog posts by Karla McLaren
How labeling emotions helps with regulating them
Further reading:
Permission to Feel book by Marc Brackett
Atlas of Emotions interactive website by the Dalai Lama, Paul Ekman, and Eve Ekman
Emotions Revealed book by Paul Ekman
Emotional Intelligence book by Daniel Goleman
The Language of Emotions book by Karla McLaren