By Tracey Strangeway, May 2025.

Understanding Emotional Vocabulary: Why It’s Important and How to Improve It

Emotions can be tricky. Sometimes, we know we’re feeling something—anger, sadness, happiness—but we can’t quite put our finger on it. And sometimes, we struggle to express what we need when we’re feeling overwhelmed, frustrated, or anxious. This is where emotional vocabulary comes in.

What is Emotional Vocabulary?

Emotional vocabulary refers to the words we use to describe our feelings. The better we are at identifying and naming our emotions, the easier it is to understand ourselves and communicate with others. If we can say, “I feel anxious” instead of “I feel bad”, we’re already improving our emotional vocabulary.
However, many of us struggle with emotional vocabulary, including the parents we work with. This can make it harder to talk about our feelings and figure out what we need, especially in tough situations.

Why Is It Hard to Identify Our Feelings?

There are some reasons why identifying our feelings can be difficult:

• Lack of awareness – Sometimes, we just don’t really know how we’re feeling. We might feel upset but can’t figure out if it’s anger, sadness, stress, or something else.
• Not knowing the words – If we don’t have the right words to name our emotions, it’s hard to express them. For example, do you know the difference between “frustrated” and “disappointed”? They feel different, but they’re both types of upset.
• Fear of being judged – Sometimes, we might avoid expressing emotions because we worry about being misunderstood or judged by others.

How Can We Improve Our Emotional Vocabulary?

It’s completely fine to struggle with identifying emotions. The good news is, it’s something we can work on and get better at. One way is using a Feelings Wheel, which is a tool that can help us identify the emotion we’re feeling. It has lots of words in different categories like happiness, sadness, fear, and anger. You can find the Feelings Wheel in the Restorative Approaches tab on the intranet. It guides us to find the right word for what we’re experiencing. When we’re feeling a bit “off,” it’s useful to have a visual reference to help us explore our emotions.

Remember, understanding emotions takes time, and it’s okay to ask for help along the way 😊