What is the Emotion Wheel?

The original Emotion Wheel was designed by Dr. Gloria Willcox, who noted that, in therapy, people seemed to “find themselves at a loss for words when describing how they feel… handicapped in their ability to verbalize their emotions by learned behaviors of what is and is not acceptable when it comes to sharing feelings.”

Butler found that many tweens and teens didn’t understand some of the words on Willcox’s Emotion Wheel, so Lucero’s version features developmentally appropriate language. “We use language that a 9-year-old would use,” says CEO Jillian Domingue. Like the original Emotion Wheel, Lucero’s wheel begins with six primary emotions: happy, scared, loved, angry, sad, and anxious. Each primary emotion, represented by a different color, forms the spokes of a central wheel. Another circle radiates out with secondary emotions. For example, some of the secondary emotions for mad include annoyed, offended, and jealous.

How it Works

Recent research shows that being able to label emotions is an important first step in regulating them. The simple act of naming an emotion stimulates the release of calming neurotransmitters and decreases activity in the amygdala, which processes emotional responses. Psychiatrist Dan Siegel calls this process “Name it to tame it.”

Butler and a team of certified clinical therapists and youth advisors devised the Spark feature by building on the Emotion Wheel concept to include multiple real-time tools for regulating emotions. When users click on Spark, simple questions help Lucero understand their emotional state. They identify their primary emotion and rate its intensity on an interactive scale. Next, they spin the wheel to generate an activity to support regulation of that specific emotion. For example, a user who’s feeling extremely overwhelmed might be prompted to notice the signs in their body when they start to feel overwhelmed. Tools include self-reflection, future-focusing, perspective-taking, and reframing.

How it Helps Tweens and Teens

Butler says that developing emotional regulation skills is often one of the first priorities for clinical therapists who provide trauma-informed care to youth. “Strengthening emotional regulation skills helps them learn that they can control their emotional state, thereby increasing their self-efficacy… They not only feel better in the moment but also experience a boost in confidence, believing in their ability to carry out the behaviors necessary for reaching their goals.”

Fun Fact: Spark contains over 600 different research-backed emotional regulation activities co-created by certified clinical therapists and our youth advisory team!

What Are the Benefits of Spark?

When Lucero conducted a pilot study on Spark user data in early 2023, it was discovered that, before using Spark, 56% of participants reported dealing with negative emotions, and 88% reported their negative emotion to be at a moderate to high intensity. After using Spark, 60% of participants reported feeling better. On average, the intensity of adolescents’ negative moods decreased by nearly 1 point after completing the emotional regulation activities generated by the Spark Wheel.

Butler says these new skills positively impact adolescents, their peers, and their families. “Emotional regulation builds confidence,” she says. “Being able to name your emotions is a part of authenticity, and self-efficacy is based on authenticity. It also helps tweens and teens develop empathy and understand others’ perspectives when in conflict with family members and friends.” That’s why emotional regulation is one of the cornerstones of Lucero’s holistic approach to supporting adolescent mental health and lifelong well-being.

Majority of Lucero Phone App Users Report Mood Improvement 

[Austin, TX, June 2023] —

In the midst of an unprecedented mental health crisis which was recently highlighted by the US Surgeon General, over 50 youth, therapists, game designers and developers collaborated to make the Lucero digital app. The majority of teens and tweens that use the Lucero phone app show mood improvement, according to a recent white paper titled, “Increasing Access to Youth Mental Health Support.”

The goal of the Lucero app is to increase confidence, build emotional regulation skills, and provide support for children who are waiting to receive mental health services. A team of licensed mental health therapists from Ensemble Therapy and Dell Children’s Hospital in Austin have co-created all of the mental wellness and social-emotional skill building content for the app.“We took evidence-based activities that are being successfully used by mental health therapists every week and placed them in the pockets of youth and families,” the Lucero creators shared.

The effectiveness of Lucero’s content has been validated by a third party PhD researcher. Since launching in December of 2022, over 60% of users reported mood improvement while using the Spark “Self Care Wheel” feature of the app. Many adolescents in the pilot study showed a decrease in negative feelings within 20 minutes.

According to Jillian Domingue, CEO, “Our team of youth collaborators makes us successful and have been instrumental in the development of every aspect of this mental health app, from design to content approval.”  Lucero uses “gamified graphics” and collaborated with a former Disney story writer to create an engaging user experience. Since launching in December 2022, Lucero has over 7,000 explorers in the Beta launch and their retention is on par and exceeds other digital wellness apps.

Lucero is live on the App Store and Google Play for phones. Tablet compatibility is in the near future. Download the white paper at Lucerospeaks.com.

CONTACT:

Jillian Domingue, CEO
Lucerospeaks.com
jillian@lucerospeaks.com
512-870-7532

We don’t have a time machine on hand, but we have the next best thing for the young people in your life right now. Lucero is a gamified wellness app that helps tweens and teens build healthy habits for self-care and emotional resilience in just a few minutes a day. It’s designed by licensed therapists and tweens and teens themselves, and – best of all – it’s fun! Lucero gives young people a mental health mentor, right in their pockets. Here are four ways our approach is unique and tailored for today\’s tweens and teens:

1. Lucero is youth-driven.

It’s time to get serious about solving the youth mental health crisis. The number of high school students reporting persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness increased by 40% between 2009 and 2019, and from 2007-2018, suicide rates among youth ages 10-24 increased by 57%. To create solutions, we need all the experts on board, and Lucero believes that includes tweens and teens themselves. After all, who knows better how young people are thinking and feeling right now? We asked our youth advisors, “If you had a magic app that could solve the problems you face, what would it do?” Then we built the safe space they asked for. All of our content is created by trauma-informed licensed therapists who work closely with tweens and teens to get it right.

2. Lucero is accessible.

In 2016 only about half of children with a treatable mental health disorder actually received treatment, and the pandemic made it even harder for young people to access mental health care. Many face accessibility and affordability barriers, and most families lack the skills, language and tools to talk about mental health with confidence. Lucero makes emotional regulation and self-care skills accessible to anyone with a smartphone. It learns which activities improve teens’ mood and well-being, and provides a customized experience that includes families as part of the care team. Lucero also gives parents and pros insight into topics that resonate with teens, as well as streamlined access to support and resources.

3. Lucero is gamified.

Lucero’s approach is to gamify healthy habits like positive self-talk, emotional regulation and connection with others. The 12-week adventure of World 1 helps teens develop self-awareness and build confidence while evolving their Avatars, tracking their progress and earning badges. The Crew feature lets them invite up to seven friends and family members to join them on the journey, so they can have fun learning together. Why gamify? Studies show that making learning fun increases motivation, so tweens and teens stay engaged longer and lock in those healthy habits. 

4. Lucero is bite-sized.

Did you know that all it takes to create a healthy habit is just a few minutes a day? Behavior scientists and psychologists say the best way to make big changes is to take it one small step at a time. That means breaking down big goals into micro-habits: tiny habits that are easy to repeat and build over time. Teens who take this approach are more likely to stay inspired. Lucero provides daily reinforcement of resources and healthy habits that support teens in mind, body and spirit. It’s almost as if your older, wiser self showed up to say, “Hang in there! Here are some tools to help you get through this.” No time machine required.

A habit is automatic, something we don’t have to think about. But habit formation isn’t just about taking the easy way out; it\’s actually a  brilliant neurocognitive strategy that helps our brains manage the vast amounts of information we process every day. Habits free up energy to learn, solve problems and handle daily tasks without overloading our brains.

Understanding the science of building healthy habits is especially important for parents and caregivers of tweens and teens. Habits can either help young people stay healthy or they can stand in the way. “Habits play an important role in our health,” says Dr. Nora Volkow, director of NIH’s National Institute on Drug Abuse. “Understanding the biology of how we develop routines that may be harmful to us, and how to break those routines and embrace new ones, could help us change our lifestyles and adopt healthier behaviors.” Here are four facts you need to know to help your teen build healthy habits:

1. Tiny increments lead to big change. 

In the book Atomic Habits, author James Clear writes, “Too often, we convince ourselves that massive success requires massive action. Improving by 1 percent isn’t particularly notable… but it can be far more meaningful, especially in the long run.” Clear points out that a 1% improvement each day for a year means you’re 37x better by the end of it. And while dramatic actions can be motivating at first, they disrupt our routines and are difficult to maintain. To make healthy habits stick, teens need to know that small, consistent efforts lead to long-term improvement.

2. Habits add up over time. 

“The effects of your habits multiply as you repeat them,” says Clear. We may not notice the effects of our daily habits as we’re going through our normal routine. But think about a habit’s cumulative impact over time: spending 5 minutes a day for one year meditating, connecting with others or exercising versus the same 5 minutes doom-scrolling on social media. The big picture can be overwhelming, but we can teach teens that success is about pointing themselves in the direction of their goals and taking small steps until they arrive.

3. It should be easy and feel good to practice self-care.

Stanford researcher and behavior scientist BJ Fogg says that a big part of why we don’t embrace healthy habits is that we think change has to be hard. But in his own experiments, Fogg found that simple, fun changes (like doing two push-ups every time he went to the bathroom) were easy to maintain and made him feel good. That led to more positive habits: “As I accumulated dozens of new habits – mostly tiny ones – they combined to create a transformation. Sustaining all this did not feel hard.” Parents and caregivers can set a precedent for making healthy habits easy by doing self-care together with teens and focusing on goals that are both meaningful and fun.

4. Lucero makes daily healthy habits easy for teens.

Lucero is a youth-driven, therapist-approved gamified wellness app for tweens, teens and their Crew (yes, that means you!) It’s designed to make daily healthy habits simple and fun, because science shows that’s the best way to support teens’ mental health and overall well-being. Lucero features 84+ gamified micro-lessons on topics like self-confidence, 600+ customized self-care activities, and ways for teens to track their progress and stay connected to people who radically support them. It’s a fun and engaging wellness app for practicing emotional regulation and – best of all – it takes just a few minutes a day to spark a lifetime of healthy habits!

1. Understand intuition and talk about it with your teen. 

Research shows that intuitive thinking is automatic and subconscious, drawing from past experiences, emotions, and bodily sensations. Analytical or logical thinking is slower and more conscious. Both ways of thinking are important, but we tend to overestimate logic and downplay intuition. Talking to your teen about intuition helps them develop awareness of their deeper emotions, sensations, and instincts. Ask them how they feel, not just what they think. Share your own intuitive hunches. Teach them to pause and check in with their feelings and sensations before making a decision. If they feel tense, queasy, or uncertain, it’s a sign to wait or make a different choice. If they feel calm, happy, and secure, these are better signs they are on the right track.

2. Give them the gift of your trust. 

As teens become more independent, they learn a lot about trust: what people and situations are safe or unsafe, how much to share, and above all, how to trust themselves to make the right choices. You can help by demonstrating trust in their internal navigation system. If, for example, your teen is reserved or standoffish around a certain person, ask them what’s going on instead of automatically pressuring them to be polite. Be aware of any tendencies to “override” their inner guidance, and talk through their decisions with them so you both understand how they feel and why. You honoring their intuition is a big part of teens learning to trust themselves.

3. Help them put fear in its proper place. 

Security expert and author Gavin de Becker says our intuitive minds pick up subtle signs of danger, so some forms of fear help us to stay safe. Teens need to know that there’s a difference between fears that hold them back and fears that protect them from harm. Unhelpful fear tells them to avoid risk even when it\’s likely to lead to growth and there’s no real threat to their safety. It may show up as feelings of worry about what others will think, repetitive anxious thoughts, or “catastrophizing.” Helpful fear is a gut-level instinct that clearly says “something isn’t right,” even if they’re not sure what that is. Parents can teach teens to discern between the two types of fear and let them know that it’s always the right decision to trust their instincts if a situation doesn’t feel safe.

4. Help them find ways to calm their minds and find flow. 

Researchers agree that a busy mind impedes intuition. Timeouts from technology, homework, and packed schedules give teens time to be creative, play, and daydream – all activities that encourage intuition. Simple mindfulness practices like a body scan or box breathing teach teens how to disengage from their thoughts and access their felt senses. Rhythmic movement – everything from running to dance to knitting to playing an instrument – can help bring their minds and bodies together in a state of intuition-inducing flow. Even downtime spent playing with pets, taking a walk, or stargazing can calm anxious thoughts and help teens connect with their intuition.

5. Teach them how to ask their intuition for guidance. 

When teens are struggling with a problem or a decision, let them know that they can ask their intuition to guide them. It’s as simple as holding the question in their minds while they sit quietly or go for a walk, just noticing what insights come up. If they don’t get an answer, let them know that sometimes intuition speaks up when we least expect it, after a good night’s sleep or when we’ve forgotten all about a problem and are focused on something else entirely. Journaling can also help teens explore their inner experience. Two intuition-building journal prompts are, “What do I need to know right now?” and “What is this feeling here to teach me?” With practice, teens can learn how to find validation inside themselves instead of looking for it externally from others.

Teens who know how to tune into their intuition have a powerful internal ally that helps them be confident, stay safe, and make positive, empowered choices. Best of all, parents can relax when they know their kids are navigating with intuitive intelligence towards their own highest good.

You could say that to be confident is to trust yourself. Confidence gives teens faith in their own abilities and a secure sense of self-reliance. It’s the cornerstone quality that helps them navigate the changes of adolescence, make good choices and thrive in a rapidly-changing world.

Why Confidence is Key

Teens who lack confidence miss out on critical growth opportunities because they are less likely to take risks, join in activities and speak up for themselves. They may expect to fail or become overly perfectionistic. They’re also more susceptible to depression, anxiety, substance-use, self-harm and being negatively influenced by peers.

High levels of confidence, in contrast, are proven to protect teens’ mental health. Confident teens are more emotionally resilient, optimistic, persistent and self-compassionate. They have more social support and lower levels of common mental health problems like depression and anxiety. And confident teens are more likely to get the most out of opportunities for growth and self-discovery, like challenging classes and team sports. In short, teens who lack confidence struggle, and teens who have confidence thrive.

The Perfect Storm

Adolescence challenges kids’ confidence in multiple, intersecting ways. In the span of a few years, teens undergo seismic shifts in their bodies, brain chemistry, and emotional and social landscapes. In the midst of all that change, they are tasked with crafting their identities and taking on new levels of independence and responsibility. And because they\’re neurologically wired to seek belonging with peers, the opinions of others suddenly matter much more.

These rapid-fire changes test even the most well-adjusted teens. In a study of 1,300 tween and teen girls, authors Claire Shipman, Katty Kay, and JillEllyn Riley discovered that, between the ages of 8 and 14, confidence levels dropped by 30%. “The change can be baffling to many parents,” they write in The Atlantic. “Their young girls are masters of the universe, full of gutsy fire. But as puberty sets in, their confidence nose-dives, and those same daughters can transform into unrecognizably timid, cautious, risk-averse versions of their former self.”

Why You Need a Proactive Plan

Because of the multiple factors that can damage teens’ confidence, it\’s not enough to leave it up to chance. Teens need a proactive plan to gain tools, strategies and habits that build their confidence and keep it high. Here are three things parents can do to put a solid plan in place:

1. Keep communicating.

Confident teens know their parents and caregivers are on their team, and they feel comfortable communicating about what matters most to them and any challenges they’re going through. It’s natural, though, for teens to become more guarded and private during adolescence. To keep the lines of communication open, stay curious about your teen’s interests. That’s where they feel most confident and, when they know you care about what’s important to them, they’ll see you as an ally in other areas, too.

1. Support them in getting out of their comfort zone.

Taking on a challenge can be scary at any age, but it’s one of the best ways to build confidence. Author Alex Malley says, “Take a risk and take action despite your fear of failure, messing up or embarrassment. If things work out, then you now know you can do more than you think. If things don’t work out, you now know that you can handle more than you think. Either way, you’re better off.” Help your teen explore the world around them and get comfortable taking positive risks. When you know they really want to try something new, be their cheerleader.

1. Build healthy habits.

Teens need daily practice to keep their confidence high. Healthy habits like positive self-talk, mindfulness and self-care are essential tools to protect teens’ confidence and boost their self-awareness. Our gamified wellness app, Lucero, was designed with teen confidence in mind; in fact, it’s a key topic in World 1. It’s a fun, no-pressure way for teens to get daily inspiration and encouragement and build healthy habits.