This workshop was inspired by a growing recognition that many children struggle to identify, understand, and communicate their emotions, despite well-intentioned adult efforts to encourage emotional expression. In schools, therapeutic settings, and family environments, adults frequently ask children questions such as “How do you feel?” or “Can you tell me what’s wrong?” Yet for many children, particularly those with alexithymia, autism, ADHD, developmental trauma, attachment difficulties, or anxiety, these questions can be difficult or even impossible to answer.

Through both research and practice, we have learned that emotions are not experienced solely as thoughts or words. Rather, emotions are first felt through changes in the body. A racing heart, tight chest, clenched fists, butterflies in the stomach, or a sense of heaviness can all be signs of an emotional experience before a child has the language to describe it. For some children, these bodily sensations may be the only accessible clues they have to what is happening internally.

The workshop draws upon current understanding of interoception—the ability to notice and interpret internal bodily signals—as well as trauma-informed, neurodiversity-affirming, and somatic approaches to emotional development. These perspectives recognise that emotional awareness is not simply taught through vocabulary lists or feelings charts. Instead, it develops through repeated opportunities to notice, explore, and make sense of bodily experiences in a safe and supportive environment.

A key inspiration for this workshop comes from observing how often children are misunderstood when they cannot articulate their feelings. A child may appear oppositional, withdrawn, anxious, or dysregulated, while in reality they are struggling to recognise what they are experiencing. When adults interpret behaviour without curiosity, opportunities for connection can be lost. However, when adults learn to notice somatic cues and gently support children in exploring them, emotional understanding can begin to emerge.

This workshop therefore encourages a shift from asking children to immediately identify emotions to helping them first notice what is happening in their bodies. By moving from sensation to emotion, rather than emotion to explanation, adults can create more accessible pathways to self-awareness and emotional literacy.

You will leave with tools to support children in developing a richer understanding of their inner world.

Description supplied by the event organiser.