Supporting our SPOTlings to become better at regulating their own emotions has become a large part of our work of therapists and caregivers, since COVID. This skill like many skills requires guidance and practice. Here is a summary of the steps to developing this skill.
1. Understand different emotions: what is comfortable feelings vs uncomfortable, can you have more than one feeling at a time? What words do we use for feelings?
2. Identify emotions in self: next is to help children recognize the feelings in themselves “name it to tame it” like Dan Siegel says. As a parent it is best to model and reflect on your own feelings with your child. Support children to recognize the physical cues in their body when they are experiencing strong feelings.
3. Accept their emotion: for lots of different reasons, our children might not think it’s totally okay to have these feelings and associate them as ‘good’ or ‘bad’. When a child is expressing, they are upset it’s important to validate their feelings, so they feel secure and connected to their caregivers “your feeling frustrated right now, that is okay”
4. Use regulation and coping skills. Our team of occupational therapists and counsellors teach children and adolescents a wide range of tools to put in their tool kit. It is important, like any skill, they will require support to practice.
