How to Better Regulate Your Emotions | Dr. Marc Brackett

Andrew Huberman

Apr 20, 2026

Episode description

Dr. Marc Brackett, PhD, is founding director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence and a professor in the Child Study Center at Yale University. We discuss the science of emotion regulation and practical tools to increase your emotional intelligence. Dr. Brackett clarifies exactly how to do that both in the context of relationships, but also things that you can do on your own to become more emotionally intelligent to later serve you in the context of relationships, work, school, etc. We also discuss how your childhood experiences influence your relationship with emotions, with particular emphasis on how boys and men are socialized around emotional processing and expression.

Show notes: https://go.hubermanlab.com/TN3UuRk

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Dr. Marc Brackett
Website: https://marcbrackett.com
Academic Profile: https://medicine.yale.edu/profile/marc-brackett
Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence: https://medicine.yale.edu/childstudy/services/community-and-schools-programs/center-for-emotional-intelligence
Dealing with Feeling: https://amzn.to/48bJd68
Permission to Feel: https://amzn.to/48dkgaq
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marc.brackett
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MarcBrackett
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marc.brackett.5
Dealing with Feeling podcast: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRM-kVGeBRqdXAf7q7ut91HZQlfZSx_VX

Timestamps
00:00:00 Marc Brackett
00:02:55 Emotion Regulation
00:05:53 Emotion Mindset, Anxiety; Good or Bad Emotions?
00:11:25 Sponsors: Joovv & Lingo
00:13:54 Permission for Happiness; Gender, Emotion Suppression
00:22:13 Young Men, Vulnerability, Incapable; Gay Men
00:31:00 Boys & Men, Crying; Emotion Socialization
00:37:34 Sponsor: AG1
00:38:58 Physical Interaction; Rough/Tumble Play, Teaching Emotion Regulation
00:46:47 Emotion Calibration, Tools: Leaders & Being a Role Model; Meta-Moment
00:56:15 Meditation & Stress Tolerance, Tool: Label Emotions; Childhood
01:03:12 Sponsor: LMNT
01:04:32 Understand Your Assumptions, Tool: Intentional Co-Regulation
01:12:09 Vocabulary & Rethinking Emotion, Tool: Reframing
01:15:49 Emotional Intelligence Training, Self-Evaluation
01:22:15 Living with Discomfort & Emotional Intelligence
01:27:01 Marc's Work & Criticism; Emotion "Leakage" & Switching Mindset
01:34:19 Sponsor: Rorra
01:35:32 Excitement, Positive Emotion; Modern Concerns, AI & Disconnection
01:45:11 Major Societal Challenges & Everyday Progress
01:54:38 Physical/Emotional Identity & Envision Best Self, Tool: Meta-Moment
02:05:33 Emotional Intelligence
02:12:46 Curiosity & Compassion; Reflection, Identity
02:19:32 Point of Connection Game
02:25:02 Zero-Cost Support, YouTube, Spotify & Apple Follow, Reviews & Feedback, Sponsors, Protocols Book, Social Media, Neural Network Newsletter

#hubermanlab #science #emotionalintelligence
Disclaimer & Disclosures: https://www.hubermanlab.com/disclaimer

Mindsip insights from this episode:

Prioritize human connection over AI therapy for emotional support

The rise of using AI as a therapist is a symptom of a societal fear of intimacy, as technology cannot replace the essential human connection needed for deep emotional support.

#AI

#relationships

Master co-regulation to reduce team frustration by 40%

Leaders who are skilled at both self-regulation and co-regulation (supporting others' emotional states) can reduce team frustration levels by as much as 40%.

#regulation

#relationships

Utilize 'How We Feel' app to enhance emotional regulation

To improve emotion regulation, use the 'How We Feel' app to expand your emotional vocabulary, as accurately labeling feelings is a critical step toward managing them.

#emotion

#regulation

Cultivate identity as a well-regulated person for emotional management

Just as you can identify as a person who exercises, you can cultivate an identity as a 'well-regulated person,' which makes managing emotions more automatic and less of a struggle.

#emotion

#regulation

Reframe anxiety as a signal for important uncertainties

There are no bad emotions, as anxiety is simply a signal of perceived uncertainty around something important to you, and it's what you do with the emotion that matters.

#anxiety

#emotion

Acknowledge anxiety to transform your relationship with it

Emotion regulation is not about getting rid of a feeling but changing your relationship to it; sometimes just acknowledging anxiety by saying 'hello' can make it dissipate.

#anxiety

#regulation

Stop constant emotional checking to maintain mental clarity

Constantly checking in with and regulating your emotions is unproductive and would make you 'psychotic'; emotions primarily matter when there is a significant shift in your environment.

#emotion

#mental-health

Pause and envision your best self before reacting

To avoid habitual, unhelpful reactions, take a 'meta moment' to pause, breathe, and envision the best version of yourself before responding to a trigger.