I stumbled upon my first Feelings Wheel early on as a therapist intern over a decade ago. Scrolling a news site, I saw a post about a tool that writers use to help them articulate emotional experiences. At first, I thought it would be ideal for clients to also help them to express emotions. However, I realized I was having a hard time articulating my own my emotional experiences. Turns out the Feelings Wheel helped me as much as my clients.
How to Use The Feelings Wheel
To connect my internal held emotions to the appropriate word, I read each word on ’the wheel’, paused and noticed if the word had a felt sense someplace within me. If I didn’t feel anything quickly I would move on to the next word. When a word or words produced a little something—a slight pang of familiarity, a tingle or tightness in my belly or chest—I would take a longer pause and reflect on the word and sensation at the same time.
I called this ‘poking myself with the wheel’, and over time labeling the sensation with the right word from the wheel helped me to process feelings that had been held inside me for a very long time. It was uncomfortable, and sometimes painful, but the side effects were not only an improved vocabulary, but better communication and dialogue with my partner and clients.
Name It to Tame It
When I decided to bring the wheel into the therapy room, I noticed how some clients were eager to label what they were feeling and others would briefly glance at the wheel and then put it down. There are no right or wrong answers with the wheel, but I did notice that the clients who were open to exploring and ‘poking’ themselves with the words on the wheel would feel better after our session, as well as in between sessions.
For these clients, the wheel was a bridge of sorts to introduce ways they could slowly tolerate the discomfort of these emotions and help them express what they needed from loved ones or friends to soothe and comfort the pain.
Turns out, there is a bunch of research on the benefits of connecting the right word to the emotions held. Psychiatrist, researcher and author Dan Siegel calls these benefits ‘name it to tame it’, which is a fun way to describe the way the left and right hemispheres of the brain respond to emotions being labeled. When both hemispheres of the brain are involved in labeling emotion(s) our nervous system as a whole experiences a state of calm.
A research study conducted by UCLA professor of psychology, Matthew D. Lieberman, found that when we feel angry we have increased activity in the part of the brain called the amygdala. The amygdala is responsible for detecting fear and setting off a series of responses to protect the body from danger. Lieberman and team found a noted a decreased response in the amygdala when the feeling of anger was labeled and talked about by the participant, which in turn increased activity in the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (the part of the brain involved in processing emotions).
According to Lieberman:
When you put feelings into words, you’re activating this prefrontal region and seeing a reduced response in the amygdala. In the same way you hit the brake when you’re driving when you see a yellow light — when you put feelings into words you seem to be hitting the brakes on your emotional responses.
The Effect of Mindfulness on the Amygdala
The research team also found that participants who practiced mindfulness had more right brain activation, which in turn lessened the activation of the amygdala. The findings suggest that mindfulness meditation is key to regulating the emotional responses connected to an activated amygdala.
The Feelings Wheel is our gift to you. (Simply right-click on the image above and ‘Save Image’.) Save it somewhere handy. Spend some time with it and see for yourself if connecting words to what you are feeling helps to decrease the intensity of what you are experiencing.
We recommend you inhale and exhale deeply while contemplating the Feelings Wheel. Balanced, deep breaths can send your body signals that you are safe even if you discover negative or painful emotions.
Let Us Help You Flourish
At Flourish! we take an integrative approach to treating clients through mindfulness- and somatic-based psychotherapy and integrative mental wellness consultations. This holistic approach allows us to provide individualized treatment, customized to the needs of each client. We are with all parts of you, the whole of you. This helps us to the root cause of your symptoms so you can live a fuller, happier life.
The most important value that all of our practitioners share: mindfulness. As therapists our own personal mindfulness practices help us to be fully present with you. By bringing the -here-and-now into therapy we help you to build mindful awareness. Cultivating mindfulness takes time and it is worth the effort. Mindfulness skills and presence can help you remain at ease, even during challenging times.
Deacdes of research has shown how effective mindfulness is in reducing symptoms stress, depression, or anxiety. If you would like to learn more, click here to set up a free 15-minute discovery call.
