Tools and Techniques for Achieving Optimal Emotional Health

Emotional health is a state of wellness that comes from understanding and acknowledging your own emotions and finding appropriate ways to express them. Many tools and techniques exist for helping us improve our emotional health. Some of the most common are given below, with real-life case histories illustrating their use. If a mood or feeling persists over a length of time, seek out a qualified professional.

Coaching/Counselling

One of the hallmarks of emotional health is the willingness to ask for help when we need it. Professional help, in the form of coaching and counselling, can provide an external source of strength and insight for working out emotionally-based problems.

Self-Help Groups

Self-help groups are designed to aid people in emotional situations in which they feel alone. Their purpose is twofold: to allow people to safely feel and express their emotions; and to help break their isolation and reintegrate them into society with the support of a peer group.

Journalling

Journalling has become one of the most popular tools for identifying and processing emotions. People record their emotions in writing as they experience them, in whatever form they wish. They do not have to share their journal with anyone else. By helping them to gain greater clarity, journalling can help people to make more emotionally informed decisions.

Letter Writing

Letter writing enables people to identify and process the emotions they feel in relation to others. The letter does not have to be sent or its contents shared: it simply provides a place for the expression of feelings. Psychologists sometimes employ a similar tool known as psychodrama, in which people express their emotions to an individual with whom they have an unresolved relationship through the use of a stand-in.

Friendships/Support Systems

Friendships allow people to feel supported in their emotional journeys. At the same time, they give them an opportunity to develop their empathetic skills.