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Being Well Podcast: Emotional Regulation: How to Feel Your Feelings Flexibly
October 20, 2025

In this episode of the Being Well Podcast, Dr. Rick and Forrest explore how emotional regulation helps us feel, manage, and process our emotions with greater skill and ease. They begin by unpacking common misconceptions and clarifying what healthy regulation looks like – feeling our feelings without being overwhelmed by them. From there, they walk through the three key steps of emotional regulation, focusing on practical tools like cognitive defusion and opposite action. Topics include interoception, the window of tolerance, cognitive bypassing, suppression/repression, and finding a balance between acceptance and agency.

Rick’s Course on Grief and Loss: Join Rick for his four-week long online program where you’ll soothe emotional pain, find perspective and meaning, and hold whatever happened with acceptance and compassion. Learn more at RickHanson.com/loss and use coupon code BeingWell25 to receive a 25% discount.

Key Topics

  • 1:59: What Does Emotional Regulation Look Like?
  • 6:08: The Three Aspects of Emotional Regulation
  • 12:35: Step 1: Feeling Your Feelings
  • 27:20: Step 2: Managing Your Feelings
  • 58:50: Step 3: Processing (and maybe expressing) Your Feelings
  • 1:10:10: Recap

Forrest is now writing on Substack, check out his work there.

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Join Dr. Rick and Forrest Hanson every week on the Being Well Podcast for lively and thought-provoking conversation and practical tips for being happier, building inner strengths, and getting the most out of life.

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