Emotions 101 - How to Identify Emotions for Adults, Teens, and Kids

Emotions 101 for Teens: Emotions, Decoded

Your feelings are data, not overreactions.

This two-page guide helps teens read the data in their feelings before acting on them, so they’re the one making the call. It blends DBT and emotion-focused skills in real teen language.

What’s inside

Five steps: Notice, Name (rate it 0 to 10), Validate (“no self-roast required”), Decode and Respond.
Emotions are waves: urges peak and pass, even when they feel permanent.
Surface vs. underneath: anger or “I don’t care” can sit on top of hurt, embarrassment or feeling left out.
Check the facts: teen-relevant examples, like being left on read.
Choose your move: bring your body down, meet the need, use opposite action, or start with self-compassion when the feeling is old and heavy.
Decode It practice sheet: body clues, rating, facts vs. story, the feeling underneath, “my move,” someone to reach out to, and an after check-in.
Who it’s for: teens ages 13 to 17, plus the therapists, school counselors and parents who support them.

Emotions 101 for Kids: Be a Feelings Detective

Every feeling leaves clues.

Kids become feelings detectives: they look for clues, ask good questions and figure out what’s really going on. This playful two-page guide teaches regulation in kid-sized steps.

What’s inside

Five detective steps: find clues, name it, it’s okay, dig deeper and solve it.
Four clues:My body.
The feeling word (“say it to shrink it”).
The hiding feeling: mad can sit on top of sad or scared.
The size check: does the feeling match the problem?
Solving the case: calm-down tools, how to ask for what you need, and thinking it through with a grown-up.
A note for grown-ups: calm and connect first, solve last, because “a dysregulated brain can’t problem-solve yet, and that’s not defiance, it’s biology.”
My Detective Report: kids can write, draw or circle, and it ends with “I feel ___ and I need ___.”
Who it’s for: kids ages about 6 to 12, and the parents, play therapists, school counselors and teachers who support them.

All three versions share

Ways to use it: teach the steps in session, then use the practice page for a real moment; send the practice page home as reusable homework; or give each family member their age version for a shared emotional language.
Why it’s different: validation comes before problem-solving, body signals come first (so it works for people who find feelings hard to name), and there’s no shame or “calm down” pressure. Big feelings are treated as information.
What you get: a two-page printable PDF, US Letter, available as an instant download. It’s DBT-informed (Linehan), and the Teens and Kids versions add emotion-focused skills. Single-clinician license included.
Pairs well with:Adults: Thoughts vs. Feelings, Feelings + Needs Inventory, DBT Skills Toolkit
Teens: Whole-Body Feelings Wheel 13 to 17, STOP Skill, ABC PLEASE for Teens
Kids: Whole-Body Feelings Wheel 6 to 9, My Coping Toolbox, Coaching Your Child Through Big Feelings
Like the Love Languages set, these three would make a natural bundle.