I saw this post on Instagram today, and it really struck a chord with me. I am working with several children at the moment who tell me it is not ok to be angry, sad, frustrated …. (emotions that they perceive as negative). I am working with them on these emotions and letting them know that it is absolutely ok to feel these feelings. In fact, it is important to allow ourselves to experience these emotions, so that we can work through them and make sense of them.
We all feel a range of emotions in a single day, sometimes we feel many all at once. The important thing is to learn to react in a way that does not hurt others. Finding the strategy that allows us to feel, and self-regulate when we are angry, sad, disappointed, embarrassed etc., will help us through life. These strategies are personal to each of us and, at first, some children need support to recognise what situations are triggers for them, they need support to know what is making them feel this way, they need help to work out what they are feeling, and they need an adult to help them deal with the feeling. This will then help them to learn how to regulate themselves when difficult situations arise.
Glennon Doyle (an American Author) sums it up: “It’s okay to feel all of the stuff you’re feeling… Feelings are for feeling. All of them. Even hard ones”
Reach Behaviour 