Name It to Tame It Worksheet

What is "Name It to Tame It ?"

The "Name It to Tame It" strategy is a concept popularized by Dr. Daniel J. Siegel, a clinical professor of psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine. It's based on the idea that naming or labeling our overwhelming emotions can help us manage and regulate them more effectively. This approach is rooted in the fields of mindfulness and neurobiology. It is often used in therapeutic settings to help individuals, especially children, cope with stress, anxiety, and other challenging emotions. While this approach is most used for children, adults can benefit from it too.

Claiming one's emotions, thoughts, and behaviors means taking ownership and responsibility for them. It involves acknowledging that these are part of one's experience and that one can manage and influence them. Taming one's emotions, thoughts, and behaviors refers to regulating and controlling them. Basically, it means making sense of intense feelings and reactions. It involves using strategies such as mindfulness, cognitive restructuring, and behavioral changes to manage and reduce the impact of negative emotions and thoughts on one's life.

The "Name It to Tame It" approach is deeply rooted in the neuroscience of emotions. Siegel explains that when an individual experiences a strong emotion, the brain's emotional centers activate, particularly the amygdala, a part of the brain's limbic system. This activation can lead to what is commonly referred to as an emotional hijack, where rational thinking becomes clouded by the intensity of the right-brain emotions (such as fear, anger, disgust, or sadness). By naming the emotion, the individual engages the prefrontal cortex, the brain area responsible for reasoning and decision-making. This engagement helps calm the amygdala and balance the emotional and rational parts of the brain.

Dr. Siegel's approach also introduces concepts like the "upstairs brain" (responsible for logical thinking and planning) and the "downstairs brain" (responsible for basic emotions and instincts). He uses the metaphor of a "flipped lid" to describe when emotions overwhelm rational thought when the upstairs brain and the downstairs brain are not working together. He also talks about integrating the left brain (logical) and right brain (emotional) for balanced emotional regulation.

Why label or name a stressor?

Labeling a stressor or emotion helps in several ways:

1. Reduces intensity: Putting a name to an emotion can reduce its intensity and make it feel more manageable.
2. Increases self-awareness: It encourages self-reflection and understanding of one's emotional state.
3. Facilitates communication: It helps communicate one's feelings more clearly to others, leading to better support and understanding.

Naming or labeling a stressor is basically identifying and articulating the specific emotion or feeling that one is experiencing especially intense ones. This is a crucial part of building an emotional vocabulary. For example, instead of saying, "I feel bad," one might say, "I feel anxious" or "I feel frustrated." This process helps in recognizing and acknowledging the emotion, which is the first step toward managing it.

How does our Name It to Tame It Worksheet template work?

Our Name It to Tame It Worksheet template is specifically designed to help mental health professionals teach parents to assist their children in identifying, understanding, and managing their emotions. Here's how you can integrate it into your practice.

Step 1: Access the template

First off, click the "Use template" button to open the template on the Carepatron app's template editor. There, you can customize it, or you can skip straight to filling or printing it. You can also download a ready-to-use version by clicking "Download." This button saves the Name it to Tame it Worksheet PDF onto your device's local storage.

Step 2: Explain the template

Explain the purpose and structure of the template to the parents. Emphasize that it's a tool to help their child articulate and process emotions in a constructive way.

Step 3: Teach the process

Guide parents on how to use the template with their child. This involves teaching them how to help their child identify the emotion they are feeling, understand what triggered it, and explore coping strategies. Remind them that the worksheet should only come after the child stops feeling angry or upset and that it should be part of the last step: talking about it.

Step 4: Practice together

Encourage parents to practice using the template with their child in a calm and supportive environment. This can be done during therapy sessions or as homework.

Step 5: Reflect and discuss

After using the template, have parents reflect on the experience with their child. Discuss what worked well, what challenges they faced, and how they can improve the process.

Step 6: Incorporate feedback

Based on the feedback from parents and observations during therapy sessions, provide additional guidance and adjust the approach as needed.

The benefits of using this worksheet

Using the Name It to Tame It Worksheet offers several benefits for both children and their parents or guardians:

• Enhanced emotional awareness: The worksheet helps children identify and articulate their emotions, increasing their emotional intelligence and self-awareness.
• Improved emotional regulation: By naming and exploring their emotions, children learn to manage their feelings more effectively, leading to better emotional regulation.
• Strengthened parent-child communication: Working through the worksheet together fosters open communication between parents and children, strengthening their relationship.
• Increased coping skills: Children learn to develop and apply coping strategies to deal with challenging emotions, building resilience and reducing stress.
• Better problem-solving: The worksheet encourages children to reflect on their experiences and consider alternative ways to handle similar situations in the future, enhancing their problem-solving skills.

Next steps after administering the worksheet

After receiving the completed Name It to Tame It Worksheets from your patients' parents, you have a valuable opportunity to deepen their understanding of the child's emotional landscape and enhance their therapeutic approach. Here are some steps you can take:

• Review and discuss: Start by going over the worksheets with the parents. This is a chance to dive into the specifics of what the child felt and why. It's a great way to spot patterns or particular situations that seem to trigger certain emotions.
• Provide feedback: Give parents some pointers on how they handled the coping strategies. Was there a better way to deal with a tantrum or a meltdown? Share your expertise to help them refine their approach.
• Set goals: Use the insights from the worksheets to set some clear goals for the child's emotional growth. This could be anything from handling frustration better to expressing their feelings more clearly.
• Monitor progress: Keep an eye on how things are going over time. Are the coping strategies working? Is the child getting better at naming and handling big emotions? Adjust your plan as needed based on what you're seeing.
• Educate parents: The worksheets aren't just about the child; they're also a teaching tool for the parents. Help them understand more about emotional regulation and how they can support their child's emotional well-being.
• Facilitate reflection: Encourage parents to think about their own reactions and how they interact with their child. Sometimes, a little self-reflection can lead to big changes in how they respond to their child's emotions.
• Integrate therapy: Finally, bring what you've learned from the worksheets into the child's therapy sessions. This personalized touch can make therapy more effective and relevant to the child's experiences.

The Name It to Tame It Worksheet isn't just a piece of paper; it's a powerful tool that can open up new avenues for therapy. By working closely with parents and using the insights gained from the worksheets, you can help kids navigate their emotions more effectively and teach them how to use their words more effectively.