color mending therapy
color mending therapy
Build emotional regulation skills through coloring
No talking. No rehashing your past. No guessing what you’re actually feeling.
Just curiosity, playfulness, and some crayons.
If you struggle to name what you're feeling, avoid emotions until they explode, or know you're "off" but can't explain why… you're not broken.
You just need to work on your emotional regulation skills.
Color Mending Therapy helps you feel, label, and understand your emotions through intuitive coloring and decoding charts.
No art skills required. No therapy degree needed.
Just you, colors, curiosity, and 15 minutes.
Why emotions feel so overwhelming
Society teaches us that there are “good” emotions and “bad” emotions. And, that “bad” emotions aren’t appropriate or acceptable to feel let alone express.
So you end up:
❌ Avoiding emotions until you explore
❌ Intellectualizing everything instead of feeling
❌ Stuck in the same patterns (people-pleasing, hypervigilance, burnout, avoiding conflict)
❌ Unable to explain what's happening in your internal world
The truth? You don't have a feelings problem. You have a skills problem.
The Most essential skill for this ever-changing world
Emotional regulation is a learnable skill, and it's THE skill that determines almost everything else in your life:
✅ Your relationships with yourself and others
✅ Your decision-making and problem-solving
✅ Your ability to learn and grow
✅ Your capacity to create the life you want
Here's the catch:
Most emotional regulation tools require you to find the perfect words first 😒
But if you could do that, you wouldn't need the tool…
What emotional regulation actually is
(and why most people get it wrong)
Emotional regulation isn't about controlling your emotions or never feeling "bad."
It’s about adapting to life's natural highs and lows.
You have strong emotional regulation skills when you can:
Accurately label any emotion
Not just, “I’m sad” or “I’m angry.” It’s getting specific.
Do you feel betrayed? Annoyed? Skeptical? Resentful?
The more specific you are, the clearer your next steps become.
Understand the why and what
Emotions are information. They show you a belief that's ready to be updated, a need you're ignoring, a boundary to set, or what needs your attention.
Understanding what and why changes everything.
Moving through the emotion
This isn't trauma dumping or emotional outbursts.
It's using the information to decide the best action that will help you feel balanced.
Is it updating a routine? Having a conversation? Grabbing something to eat?
Most people try to “fix” the feeling, dissociate from the feeling, or suppress the feeling.
If you do this, you’re going to continue to feel stuck on a hamster wheel.
You need a tool that starts in your body (not stay stuck in your head) and helps you gather valuable information.
Meet Color Mending Therapy
Color Mending Therapy is a simple, playful, somatically-based tool that helps you understand your emotions through intuitive coloring.
It's not art therapy. You're not creating something for a museum.
You're letting your body speak first.
Color Mending Therapy is a simple 2-step process:
Step 1
Intuitively color how you feel
🖍️ Choose something to color about (a situation, relationship, decision, or feeling)
🖍️ Do a body scan to find where the emotion lives in your body
🖍️ Color out the sensation using any colors and shapes that feel right
🖍️ Stop when it feels complete
Step 2
Decode your coloring
🔎 Use the Color Mending Color and Shape Charts to interpret your coloring
🔎 These charts help you:
⭐️ Identify what emotion(s) you’re feeling
⭐️ Understand WHY they’re there
⭐️ Uncover what mental model (belief) your brain is using
⭐️ Find the words to explain your inner world to others
The result?
In 15 minutes, you understand what you're feeling, why you're feeling it, and you have the language to explain it to others.
You become your own best advocate.
👇 Try Color Mending with the creator of Color Mending, Chelsea 👇
Why Color Mending works when other Tools don’t
Somatically-based
Coloring bypasses your thinking brain and lets your body speak first, creating the space to feel the emotion without judgment.
Based in the present
Coloring helps you make sense of the present without needing to rehash your past or forcing you to talk about painful experiences.
Rooted in play & curiosity
Coloring helps you discover patterns and mental models you weren’t aware of, helping to build emotional regulation skills
Fast
15-minute sessions get straight to what your emotions are trying to show you, helping you build emotional regulation skills sustainably.
Color Mending is perfect for you if you…
🫣 Avoid emotions until they become overwhelming
😵💫 Know you’re feeling “off” but can’t explain why
🥴 Intellectualize everything instead of feeling it
🤐 Struggle to find the words to describe your inner world
🫨 Find yourself in the same patterns again and again (people-pleasing, hypervigilance, burnout, conflict avoidance)
😩 Want to understand your emotions without rehashing your past
😒 Are tired of tools that require you to have the perfect words (journaling, talk-therapy, workbooks)
😮💨 Want to build emotional regulation skills playfully and sustainably
What people are saying
—amber, Colorado
“i’ve been able to release stuck emotions and move forward instead of staying trapped in my head. It's like meditation but way easier!”
—William, Florida
“Coloring has helped me move through intense emotions and find the language to express what’s happening internally for me to my therapist. I’ve made a lot of progress in a short amount of time.”
—Christina, Missouri
“I was surprised at how insightful my colorings can be, even when they’re minimal. I gain a lot of valuable information about myself, no matter how detailed the coloring is.”
—Malerie, Michigan
“I used to spiral easily and needed someone to listen to my feelings before I would listen to myself. Now, I’m able to listen to myself and not trauma dump on others!”
How to get started
3 ways to start building your emotional regulation skills today
Learn how Color Mending Works
Download the complete guide that explains the science behind the tool, how it works, and why emotional regulation is an essential skill for today’s ever-changing world.
Perfect if you’re… curious about Color Mending and want to understand the framework first.
Teach yourself Color Mending in 21-days
Jump into the world of Color Mending with The Coloring Bet. Learn how to guide yourself through sessions and start building your emotional regulation skills.
Perfect if you’re… ready to build the skill and want structure and accountability.
Experience COlor Mending Thearpy
Want to experience Color Mending in an accessible and playful way to see if it’s a tool that could benefit you? Schedule a 1:1 session with Chelsea, the creator of the tool.
Perfect if you want: To quickly experience the full benefits of a Color Mending session & have fun.
Is Color Mending a replacement for therapy?
No. Color Mending is a tool that makes therapy MORE effective.
Here's what therapists, counselors, and coaches tell us:
Color Mending helps their clients show up regulated and ready to go deeper.
Instead of spending the entire session trying to get the client to do the foundational work of feeling the feeling, naming the feeling, and finding the words to describe their inner world to you…
Clients arrive having already done that work.
That means your sessions can focus on the deeper therapeutic work.
Color Mending Therapy Is…
An approach that lets you express emotions without words
A safe way to explore all emotions without judgment
A detective kit for uncovering why you feel certain ways
A tool to understand your own emotional language
A practice to help you name and express emotions productively
Color Mending Therapy is not…
Only a tool for creative or artistic people
A way to diagnose or label mental health conditions
A complex art therapy technique. It is simple and accessible for all ages
A replacement for mental health services. It complements, not substitutes
An activity that is only useful for tough times or bad days
About Color Mending Therapy
Based on the Theory of Constructed Emotions developed by Dr. Lisa Feldman Barrett, Color Mending has helped hundreds of people of all ages learn their language of emotions and build emotional regulation skills through intuitive coloring since 2019.
Emotions are clues, not rules
And when you have the language to express your internal world to someone else, your world will know no limits 🖤
Follow @colormendingtherapy on social media to stay up-to-date on the latest techniques, tips, and offerings.