Emotion Model / Emotion Chain — Dialectical Behavior Therapy

A six-step model showing how an emotion arises and develops: trigger → interpretation → emotion (name + intensity) → action urge → behavior → consequences. It is the basis for all emotion-regulation work in DBT. The model normalizes emotions (they are the result of logic, not enemies) and creates points for intervention at each step.

Step-by-step guide

Identify the trigger — an external event or an inner phenomenon (a memory, a thought)
Name the interpretation — what does this mean? (a fast appraisal, often outside awareness)
Name the emotion — name + intensity on a 1–10 scale
Identify the action urge — what did you want to do? (run, attack, hide)
Describe the behavior — what was done or not done
Mark the consequences — short-term and long-term

When to use

In psychoeducation — to help the client understand where emotions come from
In chain analysis — to look at a specific emotion and behavior
To normalize emotions
As a basis for all other emotion-regulation techniques

Key phrases

Let us walk through the chain. What happened [trigger]? Which thoughts came up [interpretation]? Which emotion arose [name + intensity]? What did you want to do [urge]? What did you do [behavior]? What was the result [consequences]?

Follow-up questions

Where in this chain could the emotion have gone differently?

What would have happened if the urge and the action were different?

This is not a weakness — it is a mechanism. How does your mechanism work?

Alternative phrasings

Let us draw the chain on paper — from start to finish

At which link could you have stopped and made a choice?

Warnings

⚠️ Do not use it for self-blame — "it is your interpretation, your fault"
⚠️ In an acute emotion, the model can be too cognitive — stabilize first
⚠️ It takes time and practice to integrate

Source: Linehan, M. M. (1993, 2015). Based on the cognitive model of emotion (Beck, Ekman)