Emotion regulation serves as a strategy to help clients reduce the intensity of big emotions and practice self-care habits to lessen their emotional suffering. The goal is not to get rid of emotions altogether but to cope effectively with an emotional situation. Practicing emotion regulation leads to increased self-awareness and emotional resilience.
The What Is Emotion Regulation In DBT handout shares information about the focus of the approach, its goals, and benefits of the skills training. For example, it mentions that one of the purposes of emotion regulation is to stop painful emotions from starting in the first place.
This handout helps kids and teens to understand that their emotions have a purpose. After they use it, you can help reinforce their learning by letting them spend a few minutes each day to reflect on the different emotions they experienced that day. Next, they can identify which emotions were more challenging to manage and brainstorm coping strategies such as deep breathing or listening to soothing music.
Our DBT Emotion Regulation Skills handout is a helpful add-on for a detailed, 1-page overview of several emotion regulation skills.
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References:
- Faßbinder, E., Schweiger, U., Martius, D., Wilde, O. B., & Arntz, A. (2016). Emotion regulation in schema therapy and dialectical behavior therapy. Frontiers in Psychology, 7. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01373
- Lp, J. E. P. (2015b). Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Training with Adolescents: A Practical Workbook for Therapists, Teens & Parents. PESI Publishing & Media.
- Linehan, M. M. (2014). DBT skills training handouts and worksheets. Guilford Publications.
