Emotional Intelligence

Grounded in the theory of emotional intelligence (EI), Feelmo aims to help users better identify, understand and manage their emotions effectively. By taking the time to reflect and explore the messages emotions carry, users are more likely to experience greater psychological wellbeing, self-esteem and life satisfaction.

Emotional Awareness

Feelmo's Emotions Explorer and Reflect questions are designed to provide users with the feelings words needed to identify and communicate how an individual feels, as well as encourage them to be more aware of their emotions and the triggers and coping mechanisms that work for them.

Expressing feelings, known as affect labelling, can help reduce the intensity of unpleasant emotions. Labelling emotions has been found to engage a part of the brain that inhibits the amygdala, which processes emotions; reducing the intensity of an emotion and allowing you to respond and feel better.

Emotion Regulation

Emotional responses such as the fight, flight or freeze response, which prepares the body to respond to danger, have evolved to aid our survival. However, these responses may be maladaptive at times; triggering feelings of panic or anxiety when they aren't warranted. Emotion regulation refers to the ability to cope with unpleasant scenarios and manage one's response.

Emotional Regulation Strategies

Feelmo's feeling specific recommendations include a variety of regulation strategies, including mindfulness, cognitive reappraisal, acceptance and physical intervention to ensure users find strategies that work for them.

Many of Feelmo's Reflect questions challenge the thoughts behind unpleasant emotions; shifting perspectives and encouraging users to replace negative thoughts with more balanced ones. Acceptance and mindfulness techniques have also been used to encourage cognitive defusion and provide a space to prioritize goals and values.

The Therapies

Feelmo's process is rooted in a variety of evidence-based treatments.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

CBT centres around the idea that thoughts, feelings and actions are interconnected and susceptible to distortion. By exploring these connections you can better identify and manage these unpleasant cognitive distortions and the impact they have on you.

Dialectical Behavioral Therapy

DBT helps people regulate their emotions better by using a variety of distress tolerance skills, with a specific focus on relationships and acceptance.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

ACT uses acceptance and mindfulness based techniques to teach clients to observe and accept their thoughts and emotions without judgement; leading to a happier and more fulfilling life.

Do Self-Help Apps Work?

Whilst mental health apps are not a replacement for therapy, research has found that they do have significant potential to provide promising and cost-effective mental health support.

There's a growing body of literature on the efficacy surrounding mental health apps that suggests they are capable of decreasing symptoms of anxiety, stress and depression, as well as increasing overall mental well-being. Studies have found that self-monitoring mental health apps that target emotional awareness and regulation can lead to real improvements in a user's life.

Feelmo Research

Whilst Feelmo is based on a wide variety of evidence-based research, Feelmo itself has not yet been investigated within a study of its own. We plan to conduct research on the efficacy of Feelmo. If you would like to partner with us to help run our study or are interested in using Feelmo for your own research, please contact us .

Feelmo

The Research Underpinning Feelmo