It is my contention that the better we can feel, the better we will feel. This is a shift in philosophy from our emotions being sidelined as irrelevant to our productivity to becoming central to our humanity. Developing our emotional intelligence begins with the youngest amongst us. Glad to share The Pete Foundation’s “Find My Feelings” program.

The mural above has been designed by mental health providers to engage youth to express their emotional state. It comes with a kit of tags to be placed on the image that best represents what the child is feeling. 

This assists in the process of having conversations with kids about the emotions that they are feeling, which can be a daunting and challenging task. “Find My Feelings” not only allows these conversations to become more open but gives the opportunity to provide coping skills, enhance positive emotions, and work through the negative ones. In doing so, “Find My Feelings” helps focus on allowing for varying degrees of discussion or engagement with the child on how they are feeling.

Anticipated installations are at schools, pediatricians offices, therapist settings, as well as being available for home use. The roll out is planned for 2025.