Dealing with Difficult Emotions
Dealing with Difficult Emotions
Dealing with Difficult Emotions
A practical, no-nonsense psychology handout designed to help people better understand and manage overwhelming emotions like fear, sadness and anger. This resource explains why intense emotions can feel unbearable and introduces practical strategies to discharge, dampen and tolerate difficult emotions more skilfully.
Created by The Psych Collective, this printable PDF explores common emotional states such as anger, sadness and fear, including the natural “action urges” that come with them and healthier alternatives for responding without regret. The handout includes practical emotional regulation strategies drawn from DBT, trauma-informed therapy and nervous system regulation approaches.
Topics covered include:
- Emotional overwhelm and emotional sensitivity
- Why emotions escalate and become hard to manage
- Healthy emotional discharge strategies
- Emotional dampening techniques
- Vagus nerve activation skills
- Grounding and physiological regulation
- Distress tolerance and emotional endurance skills
- Practical alternatives to self-destructive coping behaviours
This resource is ideal for:
- Psychologists and counsellors
- Therapy homework
- Trauma and DBT-informed treatment
- Clients struggling with emotional overwhelm
- Highly sensitive individuals
- Borderline personality presentations
- Anxiety, anger and distress management
Designed to be practical, approachable and easy to implement, this handout gives clients concrete strategies they can use immediately when emotions feel too big to handle.
A valuable addition to therapy sessions, psychoeducation packs, coping skills resources and emotional regulation programs.
Instant PDF download.