Many therapists were trained to view them as important clinical tools, but they’re not evidence-based.
Clinical support
How to use an emotion wheel in therapy
Struggling to help clients name their feelings? Here's how to use an emotion wheel in therapy, prompts and scripts, common mistakes to avoid, and more.
By Dr. Juli Fraga, Psy.D • Clinically reviewed by Ava Riedesel, LCSW
What to know
1
The emotion wheel is a therapeutic tool that helps clients identify, understand, and work through their emotions.
2
The wheel has six core feelings at the center (mad, sad, scared, joyful, powerful, and peaceful), with more specific feeling words in the outer rings.
3
Headway provides a resource library for clinicians, offering research-backed information to help you learn about tools like the emotion wheel.
Introduction
Emotions affect people nearly every moment of every day. Just like thirst and hunger pangs, emotional cues help with survival. Anger can prompt people to assert themselves, while fear can prompt them to run.
Although emotions play a large role in daily life, it’s not always easy for clients to put their feelings into words. An emotion wheel can help. This therapeutic tool helps clients identify, name, and understand their emotions. Therapists often introduce this tool during a session, but clients can also use it to build emotional awareness between sessions.
Read on to learn what an emotion wheel is, how to use it in session, and how to incorporate this therapeutic tool to help your clients reach their goals.
What is an emotion wheel?
Developed by psychotherapist Gloria Willcox in 1982, the feelings wheel, often called an emotion wheel, is a visual aid that looks like a colorful pinwheel. Six core feelings sit at the center, and the outer rings list more specific words related to each one.
Benefits of using an emotion wheel in therapy
An emotion wheel can help clients become more aware of their feelings. Like any skill, naming emotions gets easier with practice. Research shows that people who can describe their feelings more precisely tend to cope with distress in healthier ways.
- Builds emotional vocabulary: The wheel can help build the client’s emotional vocabulary, making it easier to put feelings into words. Putting feelings into words, which researchers call affect labeling, can help reduce emotional distress.
- Can support client engagement: When clients can identify and name their emotions, they may feel more comfortable talking about them in therapy.
- Reveals emotional patterns over time: Tracking emotions over time can reveal meaningful patterns that help you and your client better understand what may be contributing to their distress.
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How to use an emotion wheel in therapy: Step-by-step
1. Introduce the wheel and normalize the exercise.
Introduce the wheel and describe its purpose. Normalize the exercise by letting your client know that many people can find it difficult to put feelings into words, and that there are no right or wrong answers.
2. Start broad at the center of the wheel.
At the center are six core feelings: mad, sad, scared, joyful, powerful, and peaceful. Start here, since broad words are often easier to choose when a client isn't sure how they feel.
3. Guide the client outward to more specific language.
Start with the emotion that the client identifies and guide them outward toward more specific language. For example, “sad” might lead to “lonely”, and then to “isolated”.
4. Connect the identified emotion to a trigger.
Emotions are often triggered by interpersonal interactions, memories, or hurtful experiences. Help your client identify the trigger.
5. Explore whether multiple emotions are present.
It’s possible to feel two emotions at once. For example, someone may feel anxious about a new relationship and excited at the same time. Using the wheel, help your client explore whether more than one emotion is present.
6. Link the emotion to a therapeutic goal or coping response.
Once your client identifies their emotion(s) and triggers, they can take adaptive actions. For example, if they're angry, they may need to set a boundary, while anxiety may mean they need to address a worry.
7. Revisit the wheel later to track shifts.
Revisit the wheel to track your client’s goals and progress.
Practical prompts and scripts for using the emotion wheel in sessions
Here are some practical prompts that can help you incorporate the emotion wheel in your sessions.
- Initial check-in prompt: “Using the emotion wheel, can you point to one emotion that describes how you’re feeling right now? Or can you identify an emotion that you experienced this week?”
- Prompt for clients who say “I don’t know”: “Can you look at the wheel and make a good guess? Take your time. There are no right or wrong answers.”
- Prompt for deepening specificity: “Let's look at the wheel together. You picked [core feeling]. Is there a word in the outer rings that fits how you're feeling even more closely?”
- Prompt for mixed emotions: “Sometimes, we feel two emotions at once. For example, we may feel sad and mad. This can feel really confusing. Let’s look at the wheel and identify what emotion(s) you’re experiencing.”
- Couples therapy prompt: “Using the wheel, can you identify one emotion that describes how you’re feeling toward your partner right now?”
Using the emotion wheel across different therapeutic modalities
The emotion wheel is a therapeutic tool that’s compatible with many different types of therapy.
- CBT: After your client names an emotion, ask what thoughts they have about their feelings. Using CBT, try to identify any thought traps that arise.
- DBT: Use the mindful observation DBT tool and encourage your client to observe the emotion they identified, without trying to change it.
- Emotion-focused therapy (EFT): Use the wheel to help your client move from the reactive feeling they notice first (such as anger) toward the more vulnerable emotion beneath it (such as hurt). Once an emotion is named, help your client explore it by asking, “If it feels okay, do you notice this emotion anywhere in your body? Or would you rather describe it with a color or image?” or, “Imagine this emotion wants to help you; what does it want to do?”
- ACT: Help your client accept their emotion without trying to change it, and without judging themselves for experiencing it.
- Psychodynamic: When emotions feel unbearable, it’s natural to use defenses such as intellectualization, avoidance, or self-criticism. As your client shares their emotion(s), help them recognize their defenses and understand where they came from.
Adapting the emotion wheel for different client populations
The emotion wheel is a practical, nimble tool that can be adapted for different client populations.
- Children and adolescents: With younger kids, it may be easier to use a simpler wheel that includes five emotions (happy, sad, angry, scared, and excited). If the child cannot read yet, point to the emotion and describe its meaning. With older kids, you can use the wheel to help them name and understand their feelings.
- Couples and families: Family tension and conflict between couples often escalates when emotions come out in actions, such as blaming others. In these moments, use the wheel to help your clients pause and name their emotions, so they can communicate in more meaningful ways. Discover more family and couples therapy activities from Headway.
- Neurodivergent clients: Some neurodivergent clients may notice, process, or express emotions differently. Follow your client's lead: try a simplified or visual wheel, offer concrete examples of what each word means, and accept the words they choose, even if they aren't on the wheel.
- Trauma survivors: Feeling unsafe or triggered can make it challenging for trauma survivors to understand their emotions. Let your client set the pace and choose their own words, start with broad, less intense feelings, and have a grounding skill (such as the 5-4-3-2-1 technique) ready if they become overwhelmed. The wheel can also complement evidence-based trauma treatments, such as cognitive processing therapy (CPT), prolonged exposure (PE), and EMDR, or trauma-focused CBT (TF-CBT).
- Clients from different cultural and language backgrounds: Emotion words, and the norms around expressing feelings, vary across cultures and languages, and some clients may describe distress in physical terms rather than emotional ones. Consider offering a wheel in your client's preferred language, inviting them to use their own words, and asking what a feeling means to them rather than assuming.
Common challenges when using the emotion wheel
Not every client will connect with the emotion wheel right away. Here are a few common challenges, and how to adjust.
- Moving too fast: Clients may have a hard time understanding the purpose of the wheel if you rush through it. Slowing down can help your client feel calmer.
- Intellectualizing: If your client starts analyzing each emotion, or tries to pick the “perfect” one, they may be intellectualizing. When this happens, gently let your client know there's no perfect word, and invite them to pick one that feels “close enough.” You might also reflect what you notice: “It seems like finding the exact word feels important. What would it be like to choose one that's close enough for now?”
- Labeling is the beginning of the story, not the end: Naming an emotion is not the same as working through it. When your client identifies emotion(s) on the wheel, don’t forget to deepen the exercise by exploring triggers, behavior change, and goals for therapy.
- Using the wheel when a client is overwhelmed: If your client is flooded with emotion or seems shut down, they may not be able to reflect on what they're feeling right away. Start with grounding, such as the 5-4-3-2-1 technique or slow, paced breathing if it feels comfortable for them, and return to the wheel once they feel steadier.
How Headway helps therapists make more time for care
Headway is here to make running your practice simpler, so you can focus on your clinical work and incorporating new tools into your sessions. By handling insurance credentialing, claims processing, and other administrative tasks, Headway handles the minute details of running a practice so you have more time to give your clients the compassionate care they deserve.
This content is for general informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute clinical, legal, financial, or professional advice. All decisions should be made at the discretion of the individual or organization, in consultation with qualified clinical, legal, or other appropriate professionals.
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