ADHD glossary · Family perspectives
Emotion labeling: use your own words for a feeling
Burklund and colleagues describe affect labeling as naming emotional content or one's own emotional response in words. [1]
General education and practical perspectives. Editorial standards.
What does labeling mean here?
This page uses “emotion labeling” for a person's own chosen feeling words. It is not an instruction to identify someone else's emotion from their face, change their feelings, or apply a treatment technique. The existing co-regulation guide discusses a different question about interaction and support; naming a feeling does not agree to any particular kind of support.
An RDY worked example: correct the offered word
This invented conversation is an illustration, not a research participant's account or a tested protocol.
A child cannot join a game because the group has already left. An adult offers, “Are you sad?” The child replies, “I'm annoyed because no one told me the time.” The adult accepts the correction: “Annoyed is your word. Do you want to tell me anything else, or leave it there?” The child wants the time of the next game, not a longer feelings conversation.
Another person in the same situation might choose no word at all. Do not make the activity a guessing game with a hidden “correct” emotion. If you offered the wrong label, replace it with the person's account instead of arguing for your interpretation.
Copyable self-description card
If I want to describe it, my word or words are:
“Not sure” or “I don't want to name it” is also an option.
The situation I want you to understand:
What I want now, if anything:
What I do not want you to assume:
Whether I want to keep this private:
You may speak instead of writing, leave a field empty, or decline the card entirely. There is no prescribed list, intensity score, or requirement to feel differently afterward.
Different perspectives
The same situation can feel different depending on your place in the family. Start with the perspective that fits, and make room for the other person’s account.
Child or teen
an adult's suggested word is not your answer unless you choose it.
Parent or grandparent
accept “I don't know” without filling in the blank for the person. You can discuss the missing event information separately.
Partner
ask whether words are wanted now. Do not use a shared feelings record as evidence in a later disagreement.
Related guides
Questions you may have
Will naming a feeling calm someone down?
No such promise is made here. The cited study does not establish an outcome for this conversation or for RDY.
What if two words fit?
You can use both, choose different wording later, or use none. This is self-description, not a vocabulary exam.
Does naming the feeling mean accepting a proposed solution?
No. The example keeps a feeling word and a request as separate choices.
Evidence and limitations
[1] Burklund LJ, Creswell JD, Irwin MR, Lieberman MD. The common and distinct neural bases of affect labeling and reappraisal in healthy adults. Frontiers in Psychology. 2014;5:221. Published March 24, 2014. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00221. Accessed September 5, 2026. The abstract and introduction support [1]. Methods report an imaging sample of 39 adults aged 55–75 completing a laboratory image-labeling task. [1] Full publisher text was inspected for definition and scope. No finding is generalized to children, ADHD, relationships, or this card. We reproduce no study images, response scale, or procedure.
Sources and what they support
These sources support the specific statements identified below. Our practical exercises are suggestions to consider, not evidence of a treatment effect.
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The common and distinct neural bases of affect labeling and reappraisal in healthy adults — Frontiers in Psychology
Source type: primary study.
Published . Accessed .
Source check, September 5, 2026: Scoped source check. Passage: Abstract and Introduction for term; Methods: Participants and fMRI affect labeling and reappraisal task for context. Limits: Definition and source context only. Older-adult laboratory study does not establish household, child, ADHD, or RDY benefit. No images, scales, or intervention instructions reproduced.
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00221.
Supports: Burklund and colleagues describe affect labeling as naming emotional content or one's own emotional response in words. Methods report an imaging sample of 39 adults aged 55–75 completing a laboratory image-labeling task.
Correction check: No retraction/corrigendum notice found in inspected original article or focused publisher searches; not exhaustive independent database clearance.
Updates and corrections
Published .
Found a factual error or something unclear? Use the contact route on our Trust page. Read our research method for the evidence approach.