Originally from Alternatives to the High Cost of Litigation

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Many people avoid and suppress emotion. This is common in the law, which seeks to resolve problems and regulate behavior on the basis of a reasonably prudent person.

Reason guides behavior and decision making. Logic trumps emotion in the legal arena, so often emotion is suppressed, discounted, or avoided entirely in the context of the law and legal processes. Clients are routinely advised not to make an “emotional decision.”

Affect Labeling is putting feelings into words. It is identifying the emotion. This can be done either by the person experiencing the emotion, or by an observer, or both.