Preparing Emotionally Resilient Students for an Uncertain World
In the dynamic world of education, preparing students academically is just half the challenge. The other essential half is cultivating their emotional intelligence. How Are You Feeling? is specifically created for schools to equip their students with the emotional concepts they need, while also supporting educators in easily adding this essential learning into their schedule.
Fundamental Evidence-based Concepts for Young People
Here are four key concepts (from the 33 we cover) that should be part of every emotional foundation.
UNDERSTANDING FEELINGS
The Foundation of Emotional Health
A crucial part of understanding feelings is knowing what to do with them.They are important signals that guide us to self-understanding, self-acceptance, and healing. Facing and feeling difficult emotions allows us to move on with our lives. Denying and avoiding these emotions leaves them festering and causing disruption.
-
are not good or bad, right or wrong.
guide us from the very beginning to get what we need to survive.
can be worked through (processed) to connection, insight, and integration.
give us the ability to be responsive instead of inappropriately reactive when we know how to process them.
allows us to deal with loss effectively.
have a source and are the route to healing.
are dangerous when suppressed for too long.
are connected to our behaviours because we act-out feelings that we have not fully felt
EXPRESSING FEELINGS
The Power of Authentic Communication
Expressing our feelings is the first step to making sense of them and to effectively get through them. Since being heard, understood, and known is a basic human need, authentically and appropriately articulating our emotions bolsters our self-worth and enhances our relationships.
-
we do not feel safe to express.
It takes courage to express feelings when we feel vulnerable, threatened, or exposed.
we have learned some feelings are unacceptable, wrong, and bad.
there has been a lack of permission to feel certain feelings in our young lives.
it is common to be afraid of certain feelings that were taboo for us in our families or in our culture — vulnerability and weakness for males, and anger for females.
we have not learned that expressing our feelings is crucially important to our physical and emotional well-being
we haven’t realized that we are born with the ability to fully feel, express, and discharge our feelings and we can learn to do so again and heal our repressed trauma.
we have not learned that there are many ways to express our feelings safely.
we are afraid of being judged for how we are feeling.
we are afraid of losing a relationship if we are honest about how we feel.
it is often not appropriate to express our feelings in the moment and it could cost us dearly.
we have not learned to return to feelings we have repressed in the moment and work them through.
SUPPRESSING FEELINGS
The Cost of Long-term Emotional Avoidance
Feelings are buried alive not dead. While short-term suppression can be necessary, long-term avoidance of feelings can have profound consequences, from exhaustion, anxiety, depression, and despair to damaged, dysfunctional relationships and addictive behaviours. The feelings pop up and cause us to suffer over and over again until we can experience them and finish with them.
-
Distracting
Numbing
Denying
Acting-out
Blaming and shaming self and others
Projecting
Rationalizing
Splitting off
Shutting down
Dissociating
-
obsessions and compulsions
addictions
insomnia
nightmares
body pain
anxiety
depression
self-harm
inability to see current situations clearly and behave appropriately
frequent triggering
big feelings we don’t understand
acting-out unconscious emotional pain
eating disorders
phobias
mania
dysfunctional relationships
PROCESSING FEELINGS
The Path to Emotional Resilience
Accessing our ability to work through grief, anger, fear, shame, regret, and all difficult feelings helps us shift from self-doubt toward confidence and from confusion to clarity. The more we process our feelings the more resilient we become and the more we have faith that we can be okay when we face adversity.
-
naming feelings. noticing when our unfinished feelings are trying to get our attention (body pain, overreacting etc.)
taking responsibility for the size of our feelings.
understanding what is within our control and what is not.
giving ourselves permission to feel.
not staying stuck.
expressing feelings without censure, when alone, or with a therapist, or on paper.
finding safe places to feel and safe people to express feelings with.
returning to, and staying with, feelings until they lose their intensity.
knowing triggers are an opportunity.
continuing to notice triggers and stay with the feelings until they have been felt thoroughly.
Becoming aware of how we defend against feeling.
knowing many different ways to get further into the troublesome feelings.
recognizing the necessity for grieving emotional pain from losses of all kinds.
releasing tensions from our bodies where we have held our unexpressed feelings.
not shutting down emotionally and disconnecting from ourselves over time.
gaining insight and integrating life experiences instead of keeping them split off from our consciousness causing us trouble
Why we need to stay with feelings to get through them!
Three Curated Programs
Foundation (3 hours)
Standard (6 hours)
Extended (12 hours)
A focused and engaging introduction to emotional literacy. The Foundation Program helps students understand what feelings are, why they matter, and how emotions shape their choices and reactions. Using short videos and simple reflection activities, this version provides a meaningful starting point for building emotional awareness in a short amount of time.
The Standard Program offers a well-rounded exploration of key emotional concepts—including emotional attachments, processing feelings, triggers, and healthy expression. With time for guided discussion and personal reflection, it fits smoothly into school schedules while giving students the full core experience of How Are You Feeling?.
A more immersive and in-depth emotional learning journey. The Extended Program allows students to explore concepts at a comfortable pace with added examples, discussions, and integration activities. This version is ideal for educators who want to provide students with a richer, more reflective experience that strengthens emotional insight and understanding.
Download our White Paper to learn about all 33 Evidence-based concepts.
Understanding of Fundamental Emotional Concepts
Research Results
40%
92%
Concepts Understood
Concepts
Understood
AFTER
PROGRAM
BEFORE
PROGRAM
“I haven’t learned that much in school…we have little snippets of information once in a while.“ Jack 15
Eye-Opening, Relatable, Thank you
Program Details:
Building Strong Emotional Foundations, One Episode at a Time.
Our program stands out in its comprehensive approach, which includes:
-
Understanding the diverse needs of modern classrooms, our program offers multiple delivery options:
• Delivered Online – Perfect for remote learning setups.
• Classroom Setting – Traditional in-person delivery.• Hybrid Model – Combines both online and offline methods with some episodes given as homework.
• Moderation by Elders/Senior Students – This unique approach allows for peer-led discussions and mentorship.
-
Accompanying the episodes are worksheets that guide students through processing and applying what they've learned – solidifying their understanding of their emotions.
-
To assist educators we provide a comprehensive guide which offers the teacher a more in-depth exploration of concepts.
-
Schools can either use our dedicated LMS or integrate the program into their existing system, ensuring ease of access and tracking.
By offering a myriad of tools and flexible delivery options, How Are You Feeling? ensures that every school, teacher, and student can benefit from its transformative content.
“It is a revelation to many people when they realise the importance of their feelings and the importance of expressing them. This is also true for young people.”
Fun and Relatable!
How we engage the students to make the program fun and relatable:
Defending painful feelings
I didn’t know that: “that bad behaviour is usually caused by pent-up feelings and that many people try to defend their feelings and don't show them to others.”
Jamie 17
Finding a safe place to feel
I didn’t know: “how to approach someone going through a hard time, and how we should allow them to process their emotions rather than working to get rid of them.”
Michaela 16
Processing a Loss or Grieving
I now know: “it is important to process my feelings.”
Marlowe 16
Depression caused by unfinished painful feelings
I didn’t know: “that bottling up unresolved feelings leads to feeling worse and can lead to depression.”
Sophie 15
Disenfranchised Grieving (Not allowed to Cry)
I now know that: “Bottling up feelings only creates more problems with yourself. “
Tate 17