Emotional regulation

Week 1: Emotion Identification

 Introduction to group therapy

o Addressing group considerations
o What will be conducted during group therapy – activities, homework, discussion
 Ice breaker activities – personal goals for therapy
 Understanding emotions and feelings
o What are feelings and emotions?
 Naming different emotions and feelings – emotion wheel, emotion
thermometer
 Feeling multiple feelings at once
o Good vs bad feelings
o Labelling emotions
 Identifying the emotions based on experience
 Rating the intensity
 Understanding how emotions affect behaviour (CBT triangle)
 Activity/homework: mood journal – identify feelings and emotions felt during the week,
situations and behaviour in response

Week 2: Stress and anxiety management

 Check in on homework
 Good stress vs bad stress
 Symptoms of stress
 Understanding the difference between feeling anxious and anxiety disorder
 Ways on managing stress and anxiety
o Accepting and acknowledging it
o Focus on the here and now
o Self-care
o Relaxation exercise
o Mindfulness exercise
 When to seek help and how
 Activity/Homework: deep breathing exercise, me-time, mindfulness exercise

Week 3: Anger and frustration management

 Introducing anger and frustration

o Discussion of situations and experiences of anger and frustration within group
o Is it okay to be angry and frustrated? – validating the feeling of anger and frustration
as part of the human experience
 Stages of anger – trigger worksheet, what makes me angry worksheet
o Triggering event -> negative thoughts, emotions -> physical symptoms -> behaviour
reactions -> consequences of actions (based on situations discussed)
o Anger vs aggression
 Managing anger
o Introduction to appropriate ways to deal with anger
  Emotional awareness – analyse your anger (are you hangry? Are you
anxious? Are you frustrated? Whats causing the anger?) how often do you
get angry, how do you react, how does it feel physically, being aware of
triggering situations
 Delay reaction – self directed time outs, anger exit worksheet
 Acceptable ways to diffuse anger – going for walk, writing down feelings,
relaxation techniques
 Self reflection
o Making amends – worksheet
o Role play on expressing anger appropriately and making amends – using the right
words

Week 4: Dealing with disappointment and lost

 Introduction to grief
o Discuss on what does grief means for each individual
o Discuss on situations where they felt lost or disappoint (ie. failing exams, losing
friends)
 Grief cycle
 Grief vs depression
 Task of grief model
o Accepting the reality
o Experience the pain of loss
o Adjusting to new environment
o Reinvest in new reality
 Ways on letting yourself go through it
o Talking
o Artistic expression
o Recording emotions and experience
o Exercise
 Activity/homework: Writing a memoir “what is the most memorable memory you have of it/
what is the memory you want to cherish the most”