Emotional regulation is the ability to control your own emotional state including the ability to rethink a challenging situation to manage any signs of adverse emotional responses such as anxiety, sadness, fear, and being able to refocus on reasons to feel calm. With that being said, being regulated does not mean that you are happy or calm all of the time. It means that being in a situation where you may feel overwhelmed, we know how to use tools to stay in control. This can be tricky for adults and children. It takes a lot of trial and error as well as time to identify strategies that help you come back to a regulated state.
Occupational therapists can help you find a way to regulate your emotions. These include things like calming strategies, increasing problem-solving skills, or increasing sensory integration.
Calming Strategies:
These will look different for each person as these strategies can be adjusted for optimal results. Deep breathing or diaphragmatic breathing- taking a deep breath in for 3 seconds and holding for 5 seconds, or placing a hand on the belly and the chest, breathing in to feel your belly expand, and then pushing the air out.
Holding yoga poses- holding yoga poses can be calming as it refocuses the body and mind to the position rather than the initial issues
Positive self-talk strategies – talking yourself through positives (either of yourself or of the situation) can help remind and refocus you
Education on body awareness through interoception – understanding our bodies, how they react, and signs that they need something more or less comes with practice
Increasing Problem-Solving Skills:
Learning how to problem-solve in a space that prompts for it can help you learn how to solve real-life challenges when they arise. In OT, we provide real-life scenarios and can attempt to break them up into smaller pieces to identify triggers and then work through how they process the information and adjust thinking for what could go differently next time.
Increasing Sensory Integration:
Sensory input- oral motor activities like chewing gum, sucking through a straw, these things can help organize our thoughts
Proprioceptive and tactile activities- hugs, jumping, squishing, playdoh, weighted blankets, these things provide the parasympathetic nervous system with stimulation and can help to become calm and regulated
Vestibular activities- swinging, rocking, things can help calm the nervous system if done in a specific pattern
Auditory activities- listening to music with headphones, or white noise machines can help to calm you down
Olfactory activities- using a favorite blanket or having a specific smell that makes you feel calm can help to refocus
