Instant anxiety relief for your teenage child

Introducing the Simple Emotions Clock: A Powerful Tool for Teens

The Emotions Clock by Olivia Bowden

At Body Image Coach, founder Olivia Bowden has always believed in giving young people the tools they need to navigate emotional stress with self-awareness and compassion. Drawing from her years of coaching experience and deep insight into the teenage emotional landscape, Olivia has created something both simple and incredibly effective: The Simple Emotions Clock. This visual, easy-to-use tool is designed especially for teens to help them identify, understand, and regulate their emotions in real-time.

🕒 What Is the Simple Emotions Clock?

Imagine a clock face where 1 represents a tiny emotional niggle—perhaps someone pushed past you in the corridor at school and it irritated you. It's minor, but it registers. At the other end, 12 is complete emotional overwhelm—the kind where your chest is tight, your thoughts are racing, and you feel like crying, shouting, or shutting down.

Olivia’s tool encourages teens to pause during stressful moments and ask themselves:

“Where am I on the clock right now and where do I want to be?”

For example:

• A girl at school thought everyone was staring at her spots and on the clock she was at number 11. Almost full blown panic and meltdown.

• And now that the event has passed, she is at the number 3 on the clock.

• If she used the clock at school and visualised the number coming down from 11 to 3, she would reduce her anxiety.

  
  

🧠 The Science Behind It

What Olivia’s tool taps into is a concept rooted in neuroscience and polyvagal theory. When we experience stress, the amygdala—the brain’s fear center—lights up. It tells our nervous system to prepare for fight, flight, or freeze. But when we engage the prefrontal cortex—the part of our brain responsible for rational thinking—we can override that fear response.

The Simple Emotions Clock acts as a visual grounding tool. It tells the brain:

• “This isn’t an emergency.”

• “You’re safe.”

• “You have control.”

That act of visualising the number coming down, of seeing the number drop, regulates your nervous system and helps bring you back to emotional safety.

💬 Why It Works for Teens

Teens often experience intense emotions. The pressures of school, social media, body image, and friendships can trigger emotional responses that feel huge. Olivia’s clock offers a non-judgmental, practical, and even fun way to build emotional resilience.

It puts the power back into their hands—literally. By visualising where they are, and where they want to be, teens learn that they’re not stuck in how they feel. They can move the dial, anytime.

Want to try it? Next time something stressful happens, take a moment:🕒 “Where am I on the clock?”🕒 “Where do I want to be?”🕒 Watch how the emotion fades when you see it clearly and let go of the story attached to it.

This is just one of many coaching tools Olivia Bowden is developing to support the next generation in becoming emotionally strong, self-aware, and deeply kind to themselves.

Because emotional wellbeing is not just important—it's essential.

Would you like some free resources for your teen?

visit: www.bodyimagecoach.co.uk

Or enquire about our 6 week body image program for young people with early onset of an eating disorder and/or BDD (some parts of the UK are fully funded. For those parts of the UK not funded, as a not-for-profit we understand the importance of keeping prices low. We offer a subsidised set price of £305 per person for 19 hours of support.

Contact us at: hello@bodyimagecoach.co.uk