How to Use an Emotions Chart to Track Your Feelings
Key takeaways:
A feelings chart, or emotions chart, is a visual aid that helps both children and adults learn to identify and express their emotions.
Feelings charts connect basic emotions, like sadness, with more complex feelings, like loneliness, to help you deepen your understanding of yourself.
You don’t have to be a mental health professional to use a feelings chart. You can use one on your own or with your family from the comfort of your home.
You’re not alone if you have a hard time expressing what you’re feeling. Maybe you have trouble distinguishing between emotions like sadness, angriness, and loneliness. And maybe you don’t even know how to begin getting acquainted with the differences.
For some people, labeling emotions is a challenge, especially if this wasn’t modeled for them as children. But an emotions chart can help. By using this mental health tool, you can learn to find language for your feelings and learn to express yourself.
What is a feelings chart?
A feelings chart is a visual tool that can help you identify and verbalize your feelings. Feelings charts can be helpful for both kids and adults and can take on a variety of forms. And while they’re helpful in healthcare settings, you can also use a feelings chart on your own or with your family at home.
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Feelings charts have different features and may use visual aids like wheels, charts, or faces. Some feelings charts, especially those for children, concentrate on only a handful of emotions, which may be accompanied by “feeling faces.”
Feelings charts for adults often take the shape of an emotions wheel. With this model, basic emotions (see below) are listed or represented at the center of a wheel. The outer layers of the wheel contain more complex versions of the basic emotions.
What emotions are included on a feelings chart?
Basic feelings charts usually include lists or visual representations of primary emotions. Also known as core or basic emotions, primary emotions are recognized by most cultures. They include:
Fear
Anger
Joy
Sadness
Disgust
Contempt
Surprise
Shame
Shyness
Guilt
Emotions charts can help you untangle more complex feelings. You may experience a combination of emotions at the same time. Or, you may experience secondary emotions. Secondary emotions may:
Follow a primary emotion
Cover up a primary emotion
Be a reaction to a primary emotion
And how you experience specific emotions depends on your culture. Not everyone experiences feelings the same way.
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So, for example, you might be able to recognize and express when you’re feeling happy. But, with the help of a feelings chart, you’ll be able to pinpoint a specific shade of happiness like:
Playful
Content
Interested
Proud
Accepted
Powerful
Peaceful
Trusting
Optimistic
In exploring these layers of emotion, you can find the best words to express yourself and relate to others.
How are feelings charts used?
It can be tough to express yourself when you’re flooded with emotion or if you aren’t in the habit of labeling your feelings. But feelings charts can help you home in on words that describe your experiences. You can use a feelings chart to help you label big emotions when they arise or simply as a tool to check in with yourself throughout the day.
Here’s how to use an emotions wheel to do this:
Print out a copy of an emotions wheel or pull one up on your phone or computer. There are many free versions available online.
Starting with the innermost circle, select the basic emotion you’re experiencing.
Then, move out to the next circle and select a more specific feeling that’s connected to your primary feeling.
Repeat this process for each circle of feelings, moving outward toward the last layer of the wheel.
As you move through this process, remember that there are no good or bad feelings. Practice self-acceptance and refrain from judging yourself.
When you’re finished, reflect on the experience and consider sharing what you learned with someone you trust, like a friend, family member, or therapist.
How are feelings charts used for children?
Feelings charts are helpful for adults, but they’re especially helpful for children. They can be used to teach young people to recognize their emotions and regulate their behavior. Children may lack the emotional vocabulary to express themselves, depending on their age and environment. So parents, teachers, and other caregivers can use these tools to talk to kids about big feelings.
To start using a feelings chart with your child, find a kid-friendly version and begin by helping them learn to label primary emotions. Then, as your child’s emotional awareness expands, you can move on to the more complex or intense feelings listed on the chart.
Be sure to talk about your own feelings and how you respond to them in an age-appropriate way. Making emotional reflection a normal part of an everyday routine can be helpful for all ages.
How do I tell what emotions I’m feeling?
If you struggle to identify your emotions, there are some things you can do with a therapist or on your own that can help. Throughout this process, try to maintain a spirit of curiosity and be compassionate toward yourself if you get stuck.
Listen to your body
To get better at naming your emotions, try paying a little closer attention to your body. Be on the lookout for physical clues — like body sensations or facial expressions — that might point you in the right direction.
The chart below provides examples of how your body might respond when you’re feeling some of the basic emotions.
Emotion | Body sensations |
Fear | • Increased heart rate |
Anger | • Sensations in your arms |
Joy | • Feeling light |
Sadness | • Feeling heavy |
As you begin to notice how shifts in emotion affect your body, it may be helpful to consult a feelings chart. This tool can help you find the words to describe what your experiencing physically as it relates to emotions.
And know that learning to identify and label your feelings may take some practice. So try to have patience with yourself as you get better acquainted with your emotions and how they affect your body.
Discover your ‘emotional rules’
Different cultures have different norms surrounding emotions. But we all absorb rules from our environment about expressing how we feel. Recognizing what rules you may unconsciously be following may help you uncover and identify what you’re really feeling.
Begin by reflecting on your own set of “emotional rules” and look for ways to reframe them. Use the following examples to help you get started:
“Men don’t cry.” Reframe as, “Everyone experiences sadness, and it’s OK to cry, no matter what your gender identity is.”
“Healthy relationships don’t involve anger.” Reframe as, “Conflict isn’t unhealthy. Conflict can happen between people who genuinely love each other; it’s how it’s expressed that matters.”
“Showing emotion makes you seem weak.” Reframe as, “It takes a lot of strength to express yourself honestly, and most people respect that.”
Write down your experiences
Sometimes, it can be helpful to write about an experience as a way to identify how it made you feel. When you’re feeling activated but can’t identify your emotions, get out your journal and start writing down:
What happened
Who was involved
What the outcome was
How the experience affected you
Once you’ve written down your thoughts, reread your account. As you look back over the experience, try to identify what you were feeling at different points. Use your feelings chart as a guide, and make note of what details in the account helped you label your emotions.
How can a feelings chart help improve your health?
A feelings chart can benefit your health by helping you identify your emotions. This deceptively simple act can:
Interrupt cycles of reactivity
Give you greater control over your life
Strengthen your mental and physical well-being
And understanding your feelings is a key component of emotional intelligence. Enhancing your emotional intelligence can help you:
Strengthen your relationships
Improve your sense of social connection
Cope better with stress
Adapt more easily to changes
Tap into coping skills and other resources as needed
The bottom line
All feelings, even the uncomfortable ones, get easier to manage when we can label them. But we aren’t all born with the ability to easily identify our emotions. Fortunately, a feelings chart, or an emotions chart, is a visual tool that can help with this process.
Whether used in a therapist’s office or around the dinner table, feelings charts can build emotional intelligence, deepen self-awareness, and strengthen our physical and mental health.
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References
American Psychological Association Dictionary of Psychology. (n.d.). Primary emotion.
American Psychological Association Dictionary of Psychology. (n.d.). Secondary emotion.
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Lieberman, M. D., et al. (2007). Putting feelings into words: Affect labeling disrupts amygdala activity in response to affective stimuli. Psychological Science.
Meuwissen, A. S., et al. (2016). The creation and validation of the Developmental Emotional Faces Stimulus Set. Behavior Research Methods.
Mugerwa, S., et al. (2012). Writing therapy: A new tool for general practice? British Journal of General Practice.
Nummenmaa, L., et al. (2013). Bodily maps of emotions. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Pangilinan, J. (2022). 9 feelings charts printables for adults in 2023. Happier Human.
Patek, A. (n.d.). Using a feelings chart to teach emotions. Generational Mindful.
Sánchez-Álvarez, N., et al. (2015). The relation between emotional intelligence and subjective well-being: A meta-analytic investigation. The Journal of Positive Psychology.
Shea, M. (2019). Struggling to name how you feel? Try using this wheel. Shine.
University of West Alabama. (2019). Our basic emotions.
Van Kleef, G. A., et al. (2016). Editorial: The social nature of emotions. Frontiers in Psychology.
Willcox, G. (1982). The feeling wheel: A tool for expanding awareness of emotions and increasing spontaneity and intimacy. Transactional Analysis Journal.
For additional resources or to connect with mental health services in your area, call SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-4357. For immediate assistance, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988, or text HOME to 741-741 to reach the Crisis Text Line.
