In This article

The author/counselor Tish Hedger of this article is no longer with MyCounselor; however, wanting to continue to share their expertise on the subject, we would like to cite, credit and thank Tish Hedger for their contributions to our clients.

The Feeling Wheel is a simple tool to help you put language to your emotions that goes deeper than “Good” or “Bad”. The four basic umbrella emotions are: happy, sad, mad, and scared (or concerned if your a man, because we don’t get scared…right). Under each of these umbrellas is a host of nuanced emotions, each with their own causes and experiences.

Did you take Emotional Intelligence 101 in school? Me neither. Most of us never had any intentional teaching on how to identify and articulate our emotions. The closest we came was mom setting us on her lap and helping us find the words to express what we were feeling as kid. Many of us didn’t even have that.

The first task in growing emotional intelligence is to learn the language of emotion. If you know the words you can begin to match your emotional experience with the words that represent those experiences. The Feeling Wheel, while certainly not exhaustive or definitive, can be helpful in helping you find the right words.

YOU CAN DOWNLOAD A PDF OF THE FEELING WHEEL BY CLICKING HERE.