Emotional regulation

>> Narrator: Welcome to this video on emotional regulation.

During this video, you will learn what emotional regulation is and some key strategies for supporting emotional regulation.

Emotional regulation is how people respond to and manage their emotional state. It is what we do to alert or soothe ourselves and how we seek support.

Managing our emotional state is important because it helps us to stay calm. Being able to regulate ourselves allows us to participate in daily activities and maintain a positive sense of wellbeing. It can also help us to interact and communicate with others. 

Children with social communication difficulties may need more support to find out which strategies work best for them. For a child, there is always a reason behind their behaviour. When children present with behaviours that adults find challenging, the child is often communicating a need that they are having difficulty expressing, in a way that we would expect or prefer.

The needs could be communication, for example, when learning becomes too difficult for the child, or sensory for example if they feel the need to move but are prevented from doing so.  

Therefore, we must tune into the child and work together to figure out what they are trying to communicate. When a child needs help regulating their emotions, they benefit from a collaborative approach across home, school, and services, such as, speech and language therapy.

Think about why the child might be carrying out a particular behaviour.

Whilst doing this, think about the environment; what happened before this behaviour, what time of day it is, who or what is around the child, and how often this happens? Thinking about whether there are any patterns to their behaviour can be useful to recognise triggers and use strategies to reduce an escalation of these behaviours. Looking for these patterns could also highlight any areas of development that need further support or adaptations.

To regulate ourselves, we all use strategies. These strategies are often found by copying other people and finding out which ones work best for us. For example, going for a walk when we feel sad, taking some deep breaths when we are feeling angry, exercising when we feel overwhelmed, or talking to a friend when we are upset.

It is key to have knowledge of different strategies to support the child with their emotional regulation. Sensory calming strategies, such as, deep pressure may be useful for some children. Thinking strategies, such as, assessing the size of the problem and discussing responses may also be effective. It is important for the child to know which thinking and which sensory strategies are effective for them.

Acknowledging the child’s emotional needs and providing support can ensure their feelings are being understood. This could be done though verbalising their feelings or using visuals such as, emotion boards, so the child can share how they are feeling. When dysregulated, we all find it more difficult to communicate our thoughts and feelings clearly. Having readily accessible visual support can help a child to identify and express their thoughts and feelings. Visual supports can also be used when the child is in a calm state to help them reflect on periods of emotional dysregulation.

This also makes social situations more predictable, as they may otherwise be confusing or stressful for your child. Your child might not like it when they don’t know what’s going to happen next.  Providing as much predictability as possible when supporting your child’s social communication and social interactions can be very helpful. It can help them to navigate social situations with more confidence.

Please refer to the advice sheet on our website about emotional strategy cards for more information.

Labelling and discussing emotions with the child will increase their emotional vocabulary.

Integrating opportunities to reflect on emotional states throughout the day is important. It provides opportunities for the child to practise emotional regulation skills they have learned and helps the adult to keep track of how the child is feeling. For example, allowing the children to share their emotional state when completing the register.

Using language to ask for help from others is important, for example, you may work with a child to help them to ask the adult for a break. In doing this, you can see how the child responds to assistance or strategies offered by others.

If the child is using unconventional coping strategies, demonstrating another, more effective strategy can be useful for them to copy. For example, modelling asking for help.

More complex strategies could be used, such as, writing a list of what they may need to do when feeling overwhelmed. This can assist with the child’s self-regulation and increases their independence.

Discussing how to cope in future situations is beneficial as the child can feel more in control and prepared. For example, if the child becomes upset or agitated by the sound in the classroom, they can use a card to ask for a break.

Recognising the cause of a child’s emotional dysregulation can help us to put the most effective strategies in place. It is key to model these behaviours to the child and allow them lots of opportunities to practice.

If you would like to find out more about emotional regulation, the websites and links on the screen have lots of useful information.

If you have any further questions or would like to find out more information you can:

• watch the other videos on our website including introduction to social communication, how to support social communication, comic strip conversations, social stories and the zones of regulation
• access the Neurodiversity Support Pack

Speak to the 0-19 team, setting or school.

For more information on supporting children and young people’s speech and language needs, please visit our website. 

Our Facebook page contains lots of useful tips for supporting speech, language and communication.

Thank you!