Emotion Wheel Worksheets

What Is An Emotion Wheel Worksheet?

What’s in a name? When it comes to naming your emotions, there is huge power in finding the right word to describe what previously was an abstract and indescribable feeling. Having the language to describe your feelings is a crucial step to communicating your emotional needs, and that’s why we have created this .

This worksheet includes an Emotion Wheel diagram, with three different “levels” of emotion, from the highest level; “happy”, “sad”, “and angry”, to the more detailed, “anxious”, “confident”, or “astonished”. In addition to the emotion wheel to help your client find the words they need, we have also included some helpful questions for them to think about once they have identified their emotions. This makes our Emotion Wheel worksheet a valuable teaching tool for helping your clients begin to name and engage with their emotions.

How To Use This Emotion Wheel Worksheet

The main feature of this Emotion Wheel worksheet is, naturally, the emotion wheel diagram, so let’s run through how to use it now. Once you have downloaded the worksheet using the link on this page, your client just needs to follow the steps provided below.

Step One. Use the Emotion Wheel to choose your emotion

The Emotion Wheel diagram is a tool to help name emotions. It can be used simply as a list of potential emotions, or it can be used to zero in on the most precise word possible for an emotion.

To do this, work your way outwards from the central circle of the wheel, consisting of seven emotions. Once you have chosen which of the seven most broad emotions your emotion falls under, move out one layer to the second ring of the wheel. The broader emotion will branch into several more detailed emotions, so you can once again select the word that best matches your feeling. Your secondary emotion will then split once more into the final, most specific level of words in the outer ring of the circle- and you should choose the word that best matches your feeling for the last time to get your final emotion.

Step Two. Write down the final emotion(s) in the space provided

Once you’ve found the word that best describes your emotion, write it down in the space provided. You can repeat this exercise as many times as you like for the different emotions you are feeling, or just leave it at one.

Step Three. Respond to some or all of the question prompts.

Once you have named your emotion or emotions, we have provided open-ended questions to help you begin to engage with this emotion. If you are completing this worksheet with a client in a therapy or counseling session, you can use these questions as discussion points, or if you have assigned this worksheet as “homework” your client can write down their responses in the space provided.

Step Four. Store the worksheet securely

The last step is to ensure the worksheet is stored securely as it contains confidential patient health information.

Who Can Use these Printable Emotion Wheel Worksheets (PDF)?

Once they have an understanding of the purpose of completing this worksheet, we believe that anyone can complete this worksheet and benefit from expanding their emotional vocabulary.

However, it is best suited to clients who may be earlier on in their therapy journey or who do not have lots of experience engaging with and giving language to their emotions. For clients who are more advanced in naming and recognizing their emotions, the emotion wheel diagram may not be necessary.

Practitioners who can help their clients by offering this Emotion Wheel worksheet as a resource or homework task include but are not limited to:

• Counselors
• Therapists
• Psychiatrists
• Mental health nurses
• Mentors
• Coaches
• Clinical Psychologists

Why Is This Form Useful For Therapists?

Provide a valuable resource to your clients

One of the best features of this worksheet is that it includes a full emotion wheel diagram which can be used over and over again whenever your client needs to find the language to describe their emotions. Even just for this diagram, this worksheet will undoubtedly be useful for your clients!

Includes question prompts

On top of the emotion wheel diagram, we have also included some open-ended questions to prompt your client to further engage with and learn to identify their emotions. These questions can be completed independently by your client, or serve as great discussion points in sessions with your client.

Space for Additional Notes

While we have provided open-ended questions for your client to respond to, they may also have additional thoughts or questions they wish to note down as they complete this exercise. As such, we have left a space for any additional notes they have.

Benefits of Emotion Wheel Worksheet Template

Meet your client’s needs 

Not all of your clients will be at the same level in terms of being able to engage with and identify their emotions. Before you begin helping your clients with more advanced techniques such as identifying and challenging cognitive distortions, or brainstorming alternative behaviors in the face of maladaptive coping mechanisms, they must first be confident in naming and recognizing their emotions. This Emotion Wheel supports your clients who may have never actively engaged with their emotions and need some extra help naming what they are feeling. 

Universal emotion wheel design

This emotion wheel, developed by Dr. Gloria Wilcox, is widely used and recognized around the world so when it came to developing this worksheet, we felt there was no need to reinvent the (emotion) wheel. Your client can therefore benefit from becoming familiar with a commonly used therapeutic tool. 

Digital format

One great benefit of this worksheet is that it can be completed entirely digitally, meaning your client can access this worksheet from the device of their choice without needing access to a printer. It can also be sent and stored utilizing digital encryption, which in turn benefits your client’s security practices. 

Discussion starter

Your client’s responses to this worksheet can serve as great discussion points in your sessions. Armed with the language they need to describe their emotions, your client’s confidence in discussing their internal emotional landscape is guaranteed to improve with this worksheet. 

Gain valuable insights 

Finally, the questions provided in this worksheet are designed to allow you greater insight into your client’s ability to engage with their emotions and help you identify areas to focus on in their treatment.