The Science Behind It

In a landmark UCLA study, Matthew Lieberman showed participants images designed to trigger strong emotions. Those who labeled the emotion they saw showed clearly reduced amygdala activation compared to those who simply looked at the image.

The effect was consistent. And it worked whether people labeled the emotion silently, wrote it down, or said it out loud. The key was engaging the language centers of the brain, which in turn activated regulatory circuits.

Follow-up research suggests that people who regularly practice affect labeling build stronger links between the prefrontal cortex and the amygdala, getting better at emotional regulation over time. The skill compounds.