We all need a little emotional mind candy.
Designed to remind us of the important concepts in life and provide a fun way to explore and remember different ideas, these cue cards are a great resource for therapists or anyone looking to open up their mind.
Available for purchase! Email us for a Paypal link for payment!
Set of 5 8.5x 11” high res pdf $28
Set of 5 5 x 7” digitally printed cards $48 including shipping
(email us with your choices, each card has a number)
MC001
Emotional Color Wheel
Developing an understanding and awareness of emotional nuance can be a powerful tool for personal growth. Emotions are highly subjective and depend on one’s individual experience and can be easily confused with one another – they may feel similar in the body or share characteristics. For example, shame and guilt often feel the same but have incredibly different drivers.
As we move through life, we’ll often quickly label our emotions without taking the energy to dig deeper and discover the truth behind our feelings. When we are happy for instance, imagine the power of knowing where that feeling stems from – are we feeling peaceful, confident, or stimulated in the moment? Each of these feelings have vastly different implications for our lives.
This card helps you tease out the nuances of four primary emotions, but there are hundreds of others to explore! To learn more, Brené Brown’s Atlas of the Heart is a great starting point!
MC002
Attachment Theory
Attachment theory, as pioneered by the psychiatrist John Bowlby in the 1930’s, posits that how your primary caregiver responded to your emotional needs as an infant correlates to your bonding style as an adult. If your needs were interpreted correctly and you felt understood and safe as a young child, then you more than likely developed the trust, confidence, and hope needed to securely attach as an adult. The insecure attachment styles – anxious, avoidant, and disorganized – can stem from the unhealthy, “nonverbal emotional communication” we experienced in infancy.
It’s helpful to understand our attachment style as it can influence our relationships. How we respond to criticism, intimacy, praise, and how we communicate can be traced back to our experiences as infants. Attachment style can help you interpret your behavior and help you understand your partner’s needs – and help you pick the right partner!
This card gives you a brief overview of the four different styles but note that people can hybrids, for example be secure in their work relationships and anxious with romantic partners. There’s lots to learn… here’s more information on Attachment Styles!
MC003
Somatic Sensation
As humans we crave control and we are busy, often we don’t have the time or energy or space to deal with our feelings! Instead, we repress our emotions or even deny that they exist. But where do they go? Unfortunately, those unresolved feelings don’t just dissipate and that energy can get stored in the body. This is referred to as somatization.
Overtime unreleased and unrealized emotional distress from stress, fear, hurt etc… can build into the aches and pains we feel in our bodies. Tension headaches, soreness in our shoulders and lower back may in fact be due to specific stressors in our lives.
This card outlines some of the known areas in the body where we tend to somatize. The good news is, that if we make the time to address and acknowledge our feelings, process them and make needed changes in our lives, we can lesson the impact. Good Therapy has a good overview on somatization but please remember to always seek professional help for persistent pain to ensure there are no underlying medical conditions.
change is the only constant
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change is the only constant *
MC004
Practicing Mindfulness
When a thought enters your mind many things happen – we accept it as truth, ignore it, or obsess over it until we get caught in a deep rabbit hole. What exactly is a thought? A good definition is that, “our thoughts are maps representing and corresponding to things that our brains have either perceived with our senses, felt with our emotions, or formed as an action plan.” They can be very rooted in learned experience… they can also be misleading.
Have you ever questioned your thoughts? A mindfulness practice helps you pay attention to your thoughts, assessing them in a non-judgemental way. What experience or memory is it linked to? Is it a negative or positive thought? What are the prevailing winds (your mindset) as a thought enters your mind?
Use this card as a reminder that thoughts are not fact. Paying attention, being curious about our thoughts, thinking about our thinking, is an incredible tool for change! Start by noticing the thought, asking questions, observing the context and then letting it go if it doesn’t serve you.
MC005
Wheel of Life
We all feel off kilter at times when some aspects of our lives get all the attention at the expense of others. It can be hard to identify the imbalances and they often change before we even realize it. It’s so hard to achieve balance in life and so this simple assessment tool, the wheel of life, can be handy as a way to check in with yourself and determine where to focus your time and energy. The Wheel of Life, created by Paul J. Meyer in the 1960s, helps people transform their lives and assess their needs periodically.
Use this card every six months to reflect on the balance in your life. By identifying segments with low levels of satisfaction, you can target specific areas to improve your overall happiness. Use the wheel to rate each life segment on a scale if 1 to 10. You can then even connect the dots to visually graph what areas need your attention. Can you sacrifice time an energy from one segment in order to bring another into balance?