Unless you’re a songwriter or poet, finding the right words to describe how you feel or how a client feel can be challenging. I find this even with being in the social work field for 4 years and many years as a student.
Enter the "Feelings Wheel", which I think can lighten this burden a bit at the very least.
The "Feelings Wheel" was initially developed by Dr. Gloria Wilcox, and has been used by many counsellors as a tool to assist with determining how a client may be feeling. I sometimes find myself saying, “that is really tough/challenging/difficult” and you seem “angry/happy/sad”. I feel that these descriptors are very one-dimensional and prescriptive as well as subjective in many client situations. Happiness is viewed in multiple different ways with different people, same with anger and sadness. So when I found this tool,I was quite excited and decided to share. I would like to use broader vocabulary and improve my interview skills; however, sometimes that is difficult when faced with new situations and having to develop new problem solving techniques as a result.
As you can see in the diagram, the centre is made up of 6 words: sad, mad, scared, joyful, powerful, and peaceful. From there more words are presented in the second circle and more words in the third circle. This is an excellent tool to pinpoint what our clients are presently feeling beyond subjective feelings of happiness, anger and sadness. It also can be helpful when we are assessing how we are feeling about a certain situation in our personal lives too. The "Feelings Wheel" has a total of 72 adjectives that can be used right at your fingertips. For example, a client may present as angry, he/she could be hurt, mad and frustrated, but not hateful or skeptical.
I hope this can help other social workers, counsellors and helpers out there, as I believe it is an extremely valuable and practical tool. Do you see this as being helpful to you?
"Feelings Wheel" - Retrieved from https://www.simplemost.com/feeling-wheel-will-help-better-describe-emotions/