What Is Emotional Regulation? Emotional regulation is our ability to notice, understand, and influence our emotional responses. Ideally, we want to respond to difficult emotions and challenges in a way that is healthy and helpful. To be clear, emotional regulation isn’t about staying calm and happy at all times. It’s normal for our emotions to fluctuate. However, when they’re regulated, we can experience the ups and downs without being completely overwhelmed by them. A key part of emotional...

The relationships we have with family, particularly our primary caregivers, are incredibly powerful. They shape our early understanding of things like love, safety, trust, and whether or not we’re important in the world. Our experiences within our family can also inform how we perceive ourselves, how we regulate our emotions, and our behaviour in other important relationships throughout our lives. Family dynamics can be intense because they contain so much depth and history. It’s not uncommon...

What is Trauma’s Ripple Effect? Imagine a stone being dropped into a body of water. First, there’s a big splash as the stone hits the surface and sinks to the bottom. Then, ripples or waves begin to spread outwards. The stone has disappeared, but the ripples continue for a long time afterwards. This ‘ripple effect’ is a useful analogy for trauma. The stone represents the initial impact of the traumatic event itself. The waves spreading outwards represent the impact trauma has on other aspects...