Hi friend, and welcome back to The Journaling Room. I’m your host, Kendall Snyder, and today we’re talking about a powerful, life-giving practice: journaling for emotional regulation.
Now before that phrase intimidates you, let me break it down. Emotional regulation simply means: being able to name, feel, and respond to your emotions in a healthy way.
We all experience intense emotions—sadness, fear, shame, frustration, disappointment—and sometimes we aren’t even sure why they hit us so hard. But when we don’t know how to process them, we tend to do one of two things: suppress them or act out of them. Either way, they end up running the show.
And that’s where journaling comes in.
Identify – Name – Validate – Shift
Let’s break it down:
1. Identify the emotion.
Pause and ask: What am I actually feeling right now?
Write down the raw, honest answer. Not what you think you should feel. What you do feel.
2. Name it specifically.
Instead of saying “bad” or “upset,” try to name the more specific emotion:
- Is it guilt?
- Is it fear of rejection?
- Is it embarrassment?
This helps your brain narrow in and make sense of it.
3. Validate it.
Write this: “It makes sense that I feel this way because…”
Give yourself permission. You’re not wrong for having the emotion. Even if the story behind it isn’t fully true—your emotion is valid.
4. Shift it (gently).
Once the emotion has been seen and felt, ask:
“What do I want to believe right now?” or “What emotion would help me respond with wisdom or courage?”
You're not bypassing the hard feeling. You're just asking: Now that I’ve felt it—what’s the next best step?
Music by Aleksey Chistilin from Pixabay
