Assessment Scale Clinical practice

Name a feeling

Choose a feeling and explore words that fit.

This is a reference tool, not a replacement for EMDR therapy. EMDR must be delivered by a trained clinician. If you are using these tools outside of therapy and become distressed, stop, ground yourself, and contact a mental health professional.

Keeps your choices. You can return to this guide at any time.

Loading activity…

If loading does not finish, you can reload the page or choose another activity.

Settings

Appearance

Color theme Target color Background

Sound

Volume 30%

Background sound Background level Base pitch (Hz) 200 Offset (Hz) 4.0

Headphones needed for left-right separation.

Settings saved on this device

What are you feeling?

Choose a word from the cards. More specific words will appear below. You can change your choice, choose neutral, or say none fit.

Clinical sources

Feeling Wheel

What the evidence supports

Research on a complete therapy does not establish that an isolated activity or this website produces the same outcomes. EMDR includes assessment, preparation, memory work and follow-up with a trained clinician. Its mechanisms are still being studied.

These pages compile published sources. An independent clinical review of this site and a trial of its tools are not documented here. Labels describe the technique’s use context; they are not an efficacy certification.

VA: EMDR evidence and limitations · NICE: recommendations by age and context

Willcox, G. (1982). The Feeling Wheel: A Tool for Expanding Awareness of Emotions and Increasing Spontaneity and Intimacy. Transactional Analysis Journal, 12(4), 274–276.

How to use this activity and clinical context

What this is

A clickable emotion wheel based on Dr. Gloria Willcox’s original design. Six core emotions (sad, mad, scared, joyful, peaceful, powerful) surrounded by specific variations. Tapping a word shows its definition and suggests body-sensation prompts to help ground the feeling physically.

When to use it

Phase 3 assessment, when a client struggles to name the emotion attached to a memory.
Closure, to check in on how the client feels right now.
Home use, as an everyday emotion-identification tool.
TF-CBT feelings practice, to build an emotion vocabulary with children and caregivers during affect identification and regulation. The wheel supports conversation; it is not a diagnostic measure or a complete intervention.