Quieting Anxiety - Episode 13: What is Emotion Training and How Can it Help?

Welcome to Quieting Anxiety by Excel At Life®, a podcast designed to help you manage anxiety using practical, evidence-based tools. In this episode, Dr. Monica Frank explores emotion training—a core skill in CBT that helps you understand, evaluate, and regulate emotional responses, especially when anxiety feels overwhelming or out of control. If you've ever felt ruled by your emotions or doubted your ability to tolerate anxiety, this episode is for you. It is best to listen to these episodes in order. What You’ll Learn in This Episode: ● How emotion training differs from judgmental demands to “control” your feelings ● Why emotions aren’t a weakness—and how sensitivity can be a strength ● The three core steps of emotion training: understanding, evaluating, and regulating emotions ● How emotional reasoning contributes to anxiety, and how to challenge it ● Tools that help you develop emotional mastery through practice and repetition Key Takeaways: ● Emotions aren’t facts—evaluating them helps you reduce reactivity ● You’ve likely already started emotion training if you’ve been practicing mindfulness, grounding, and relaxation ● Specific tools like the Cognitive Diary and Emotion Training Audios can deepen your skills ● Building emotional regulation creates space between emotion and reaction How to Get the Most from This Episode: ● Use the Quieting Anxiety app’s Cognitive Diary to practice identifying and labeling emotions: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.excelatlife.panic ● Try the Rainbow or Building Blocks Emotion Training audios to strengthen positive emotional associations https://www.excelatlife.com/downloads/cognitive_self-talk/emotion_training.htm ● Revisit the Mindful Grounding audio ● Listen to Mindfulness Step 3 audio to support emotion regulation Recommended Resources to Pair with This Podcast: ● Mindful Grounding for Anxiety/Trauma – https://youtu.be/0mB87_kzA7A ● Understanding Mindfulness Step 3: Unpleasant Emotions – https://youtu.be/SRoo7kmKeOY ● Rainbow Emotion Training – https://youtu.be/u6tYEz8dyW8 ● Building Blocks Emotion Training – https://youtu.be/bkzXCTmdoyc For more support and CBT-based tools, visit https://www.ExcelAtLife.com #QuietingAnxiety #CBT #EmotionTraining #EmotionalRegulation #Mindfulness #MentalHealthTools #ExcelAtLife #AnxietySupport #CognitiveBehavioralTherapy #ManagingAnxiety #MindfulAwareness