Emotional Regulation

What is Emotional Regulation

Emotional regulation refers to the process of controlling emotional reactions in response to everyday situations and task demands. This involves monitoring, evaluating and modifying the intensity and timing of an emotional response. In young children, emotional regulation is often seen as seeking extra reassurance or emotional connection from their caregivers to display appropriate emotions for the situation.

Why is Emotional Regulation important?

Emotional regulation is one neurological component of our self-regulation abilities which functions alongside sensory processing, cognitive regulation and physiological regulation. It is also a core element within executive functioning skills. Emotional regulation is essential for learning and overall functioning with everyday activities and task demands.

What are the building blocks necessary to develop efficient emotional regulation abilities?

Emotional literacy – understanding and labelling emotions in self and others
Cognitive skills - objectivity (e.g. size of problem), motivation and perspective taking
Resilience and persistence on challenging tasks
Problem solving skills
Executive functioning skills – recognise and manage emotions, consider their feelings and actions, and adjust behaviour based on decision making
Co-regulation supports

How can you tell if a child has problems with emotional regulation?

Children with emotional regulation difficulties may demonstrate the following:

Meltdowns or extreme emotional responses at home, school and within the community
Increased frequency and duration of meltdowns or extreme emotional responses
Separation anxiety
Aggression and frustration (both physical or verbal responses
Avoidance
Difficulties expressing their emotions
Social difficulties e.g. conflict resolution/problem solving
Requires excessive praise, encouragement and affirmation to either initiate, persist or complete a task that they perceive to be challenging

What other problems can occur when a child has difficulties with emotional regulation?

Difficulties learning in the classroom
Reduced productivity
Attention or impulse control difficulties
Increased stress and anxiety levels impacting participation in everyday tasks at home, school and within the community
Social challenges and difficulties maintaining relationships with others
Sleep disruption

What can be done to improve emotional regulation skills?

There are several programs and resources available to parents, educators and therapists to support children’s emotional regulation. These include the Zones of Regulation, Alert Program and Interoception Curriculum plus many more!

At Kid Sense, we work with families and children to:

Understand different emotions
Identify emotions in self and others
Communicate emotions
Identify regulation strategies (sensory, cognitive, emotional or physiological)
Use regulation strategies (either with support or independently)

Parent and caregiver education is provided to continue to support children’s emotional regulation skills at home, school and within the community.

What strategies/activities can help improve emotional regulation?

Acknowledging and talking about emotions with your child in everyday situations. Remember there are no ‘good or bad’ emotions, all emotions are normal experiences for everyone. Talking about
emotions of characters in books or television shows is a great way to develop emotional literacy and understanding.
Encouraging your child to label emotions and explain how their body felt e.g. my body felt slow and heavy when I was tired.
Avoid talking about emotions when your child is at the peak of an emotional experience/response. Wait until they are calm to talk about the situation and emotions that occurred.

Help your child through co-regulation to work through emotions and attend to their needs during these times. Monitor their cues e.g. I need a hug vs. I need space, and respond accordingly.
Support your child to develop effective ways to cope in emotional situations e.g. taking a break, breathwork, finding a safe space/person for support.
Model your own emotions and self-regulation strategies used for your child.

Why should I seek therapy if I notice difficulties with emotional regulation in my child?

You may want to seek therapy supports, if you notice your child’s emotional regulation difficulties are impacting on their daily functioning and participation in activities at home, childcare/kindy, school, and the community, as well as impacting relationships with family, peers, or educators.

What type of therapy is recommended for emotional regulation difficulties?

Therapeutic interventions can assist your child with emotional regulation difficulties, in several ways:

Occupational Therapy can assist with emotional regulation by learning about emotions through play, developing interoceptive awareness, exploring sensory, cognitive and emotional regulation tools and strategies that can be used at home, school and within the community.

Speech Pathology can support emotional regulation through building emotional vocabulary, identifying emotions, navigating own and others emotions in social situations and providing visual/communicative supports to express emotions.

Psychology can support emotional regulation through providing parenting support, trauma and attachment support, addressing behavioural difficulties, anxiety disorders, school issues e.g. bullying, perfectionism and grief support.