HR Newsletters 2020

NEWSLETTER CONTRIBUTORS Zones of Regulation: Useful for Adults, Too!

Dr. Krystal Thurman

2 020 has been stressful and overwhelming. Understatement of the year, right?! For many of us, children included, 2020 has proven to be emotionally difficult. Sudden changes to daily schedules, limited interac- tions with friends and family, and upended working environments created emotional chaos whether or not we realized it at the time. It was during the extended stay at home orders that I began really focusing on the emotional regulation techniques we use with my son. We employed the framework prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it really took on a new meaning when emotions ran high for an extended period of time. One day while working through the Zones of Regulation systematic framework a thought occurred to me, why don’t we adults use this, too? Are we truly cognizant of our emotions and do we really have a true grip on self-regulation? Would a framework help us better conceptualize our emotions and influence us to have better control of our behaviors when times are stressful – i.e. every day in 2020? My supposition is that awareness of the Zones of Regulation will lead to greater self-regulation at home and at work. Times may be stressful, but our interpersonal interactions need not suffer. Let’s visit the Zones of Regulation systematic framework. Stick with me. First, I’ll explain how it is used with children, to whom it is primarily applied, before I make the case for use by adults. In 2011, Leah Kuypers created the Zones of Regulation to help children learn self-regulation and emotional control. Zones are col- or coded to help children identify their own state of emotions using their body’s signals. By understanding one’s signals and zones, potential triggers can be more easily identified and appropriate behavior can be ap- plied to self-regulate. As you can see in the provided image, there are zones – blue, green, yellow, and red. The zone colors are somewhat easily understood. Green indicates a calm state of alertness where one is happy, calm, focused, and ready to learn. In other words, you’re feeling fine. This can be imagined as a green traffic light. Yellow reminds me of a yellow traffic light – it indicates a heightened sense of alertness – it signals the need to be cautious. In this zone, one still has some control to make changes (i.e. slow down or stop) before the emotional state escalates. Here one might feel frustrated, worried, excited, or even at a loss of control. When in yellow, one can practice self-regulation to return to green. In contrast, without appropriate self- regulation techniques, one can find themselves in the red zone. Red indicates an extremely heightened state of intense emotions and, often, a loss of control over emo- tions/reactions. Remember yellow? Well, in the red zone those (yellow) caution signs were ignored and the emotional state has now reached an elevated state of anger, rage, possible aggression, and loss of control. Red is like a stop signal.

28