A lot of programs and workshops attempt to teach emotions to children, but all you can really teach a child is how to label emotions. To learn what an emotion is, you have to be able to actually experience the visceral feeling of the emotion. This is best done through Floortime where we share back-and-forth, affective interactions with our child and can label emotions in the moment, as they happen spontaneously through play, or by commenting about the emotions witnessed when observing emotional expressions in others, and finally by co-regulating with our children when they are dysregulated.

Link to the full blog post with links to key discussion points and other ways to view or hear the podcast here: https://affectautism.com/2018/06/18/can-you-teach-emotions/

Caregivers: Consider joining our DIR® Parent Network for support from a like-minded community of Floortimers here: https://www.icdl.com/parents