Resources for Managing Difficult Emotions

Table of Contents

Emotional Dysregulation Test

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Books

Permission to Feel

The Language of Emotions

How Emotions Are Made

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Blog Posts

Emotional Worksheets

Emotional Journal Prompts

1. How do you feel about yourself today, at this moment?

2. What has been bothering you the most lately?

3. What do you have no control over regarding the situation causing you pain?

4. What emotions do you experience most often? Where do you feel them in your body?

5. Which emotions do you find hardest to accept (guilt, anger, disappointment, etc.)?

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Apps for Managing Difficult Emotions

How We Feel
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A free emotional well-being app created with input from researchers and therapists. It helps users name emotions more precisely, recognize patterns, and choose practical strategies based on what they are feeling.
Moodfit
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Combines mood tracking with CBT exercises, thought records, gratitude practices, goal setting, and daily habit tracking. Useful for identifying what triggers emotional changes and which coping strategies actually help.

Podcasts About Managing Difficult Emotions

Being Well — Forrest Hanson and Dr. Rick Hanson
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Psychology-focused conversations about emotions, relationships, anxiety, self-criticism, resilience, and changing unhealthy mental patterns. Many episodes translate psychological ideas into strategies people can actually practice.
The Happiness Lab — Dr. Laurie Santos
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Uses psychological research to examine emotions, behavior, relationships, happiness, and common ways people unintentionally make themselves feel worse.

Specific Podcast Episodes

Emotional Regulation: How to Feel Your Feelings Flexibly — Being Well
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Rick and Forrest Hanson break emotion regulation into understanding, managing, and processing emotions. The episode includes practical strategies such as opposite action and ways to respond without either suppressing emotions or letting them control your behavior.
The Science of Emotion Regulation — 10% Happier with Dan Harris and Ethan Kross
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Emotion researcher Ethan Kross explains several ways people can deliberately shift emotional states. Topics include perspective, internal dialogue, surroundings, relationships, avoidance, and deciding which strategy fits the situation.
Emotion Regulation: Top 10 Neuroscience-Backed Tools — 10% Happier
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Ethan Kross and Emma Seppälä discuss practical tools for anxiety, anger, self-criticism, and other strong emotions, including strategies that can be used while the emotion is happening.

TED & TEDx Talks About Difficult Emotions

The Gift and Power of Emotional Courage — Susan David
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Psychologist Susan David explains emotional agility and why neither forced positivity nor getting stuck in difficult feelings works well. She discusses responding to emotions in ways that support your values and choices.
Emotional Mastery: The Gifted Wisdom of Unpleasant Feelings — Dr. Joan Rosenberg
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Psychologist Joan Rosenberg discusses fear, sadness, anger, shame, embarrassment, frustration, disappointment, and vulnerability and how learning to handle uncomfortable feelings can strengthen confidence and resilience.
You Aren’t at the Mercy of Your Emotions — Your Brain Creates Them — Lisa Feldman Barrett
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Psychologist and neuroscientist Lisa Feldman Barrett explains how the brain actively constructs emotional experiences rather than simply reacting to them. The talk is useful for understanding why emotions can change with context and how changing interpretations and responses may give you more influence over what you feel.
What Nobody Teaches You About Emotions & Finding Peace — Sandra Iozzelli
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Clinical hypnotherapist Sandra Iozzelli discusses fear, sadness, anger, guilt, and what can happen when difficult emotions are repeatedly pushed away. She presents her own approach for identifying and releasing emotional reactions and finding more peace. TED notes that some claims made in the talk lack sufficient scientific support, so it is best viewed as a personal perspective rather than established mental health guidance.

Immediate Emotional Support

Crisis Text Line
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Provides free, confidential, 24/7 support in the United States for people dealing with overwhelming emotions, stress, anxiety, loneliness, self-harm thoughts, relationship problems, or other crises. In the U.S., text HOME to 741741 to connect with a trained volunteer Crisis Counselor.