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Hope 4 Hurting Kids - Moving from hurt and trauma to Hope and Healing.
Home
COVID-19
Explore
    Emotions
    Family
    Trauma
    Other
Help Centers
    Emotions Help Centers
    Emotions General
    Grief
    Family Issues Help Centers
    Divorce and Modern Family
    Domestic Violence
    Family Issues
    Foster Families
    Trauma Help Centers
    Child Abuse & Neglect
    Domestic Violence
    Sexual Abuse and Rape
    Destructive Behaviors Help Centers
    Bullying
    Cutting and Self-Harm
    Eating Disorders
    Substance Abuse
    Suicide
Get Help
    Contact Us / Get Help
    H4HK FAQs
    Hotlines
More...
    About Us
    Surveys
    Children of Divorced/Separated Parents
  • Home
  • COVID-19
  • Explore
    • Emotions
    • Family
    • Trauma
    • Other
  • Help Centers
    • Emotions Help Centers
      • Emotions General
      • Grief
    • Family Issues Help Centers
      • Divorce and Modern Family
      • Domestic Violence
      • Family Issues
      • Foster Families
    • Trauma Help Centers
      • Child Abuse & Neglect
      • Domestic Violence
      • Sexual Abuse and Rape
    • Destructive Behaviors Help Centers
      • Bullying
      • Cutting and Self-Harm
      • Eating Disorders
      • Substance Abuse
      • Suicide
  • Get Help
    • Contact Us / Get Help
    • H4HK FAQs
    • Hotlines
  • More…
    • About Us
    • Surveys
      • Children of Divorced/Separated Parents
Understanding Emotions

Using A Feelings Wheel to Name and Understand Emotions

Feelings Wheel - Color

Children dealing with loss and trauma are generally dealing with emotions they have never felt before. Alternatively, they are dealing with an intensity of emotions they have never felt before. Either way, they are ill-equipped to deal with those emotions. Your job is to find tools and methods to help them process through those emotions. A feelings wheel is a valuable tool.

The first step in helping any child deal with difficult emotions (regardless of the source of those emotions) will be to help them recognize and name the emotions they are feeling. Feelings wheels are a simple and effective tool to increase a child’s “emotion vocabulary,” and many options are available online. These tools are all useful for kids who have been through some sort of traumatic life event. They are also useful for giving any child a more robust emotional vocabulary. Teaching kids about emotions prior to trauma and pain is an important preventative measure in dealing with the hurts they will experience as they move through childhood and into adulthood. Much of what we learn about emotions is based on our own life experiences. Kids do not have those experiences, as a general rule, in order to be able to understand the emotions they are feeling.

Feelings wheels can be used in a number of way:

  1. To help kids experiencing new or unfamiliar emotions to try to find a name for that emotion.
  2. To prepare kids ahead of time by exploring different types of emotions.
  3. As a “cheat sheet” for emotion vocabulary building games like “emotions charades” or “mirroring emotions.” (Both of these will be addressed in more detail in later posts).
  4. To help adults who are not as comfortable with a range of emotions by providing them with a vocabulary for helping kids.

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November 30, 2016by Wayne Stocks

“Helping young people on the journey from hurt and trauma to hope and healing.”

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