Emotion Cards for Therapy, Teens & Coaching

Q: How many cards are in the deck?

{{cardsCount}} watercolour faces and one back, in eight families of feeling. The grouping helps you choose; mixing is encouraged.

Faces & Expressions is a 60-card deck of watercolour faces for naming feelings. Joy, calm, sadness, fear, anger, shame, wonder — and the in-between moments that fit no single word. The cards never label an emotion: a face that looks angry to one person reads as hurt to another, and that difference is where the conversation starts.

What's inside

Eight families of feeling

Grouped so you can bring one emotion to the table — or mix them when a feeling is really several at once.

Joy & Warmth8 cards

Laughter, pride, tenderness, quiet contentment.

Calm & Presence7 cards

Listening, stillness, concentration, peace.

Sadness & Loss8 cards

Grief, tiredness, numbness, longing.

Fear & Worry8 cards

Startle, unease, watchfulness.

Anger & Frustration8 cards

Irritation, resentment, cold anger.

Shame & Hiding7 cards

The turned-away face, embarrassment, shyness.

Surprise & Wonder6 cards

Amazement, curiosity, awe, scepticism.

In-Between8 cards

A smile that doesn't reach the eyes, relief mixed with exhaustion.

Cards60 watercolour portraits + 1 back

Format2:3 portrait, 1024×1536 px

Labels on cardsNone — no emotion words

PeopleAll ages, many backgrounds

Typical session5–30 minutes

Works withAdults, teens, couples, groups

The faces

Point first, find the word after

Every portrait is painted for MindTrays. Look for the face that matches the inside — not the one you think you should pick.

+42 more

Open the deck to browse all 60 faces.

Who it's for

Where emotion cards earn their place

Therapists

Emotion-focused work, alexithymia, trauma-informed pacing. A client can point before they can explain — and nothing on the card tells them what to feel.

Teen & school counsellors

Teenagers who shut down at "how do you feel?" will often say "that one". Pointing is easier than performing.

For yourself

End the day with one face and a few written lines. Building an emotional vocabulary is a practice, not a test.

When to reach for it

What this deck helps with

Opening a session. "Which face is closest to how you're arriving?" gets past "fine" in seconds.

Building emotional vocabulary. Match the inside to a face, then find the word — three small steps from recognition to language.

Mixed feelings. The in-between faces give people permission to say "both".

Perspective-taking. One face for me, one for the other person — empathy without a lecture.

Anger that looks like something else. Explore what sits under irritation: hurt, fear, exhaustion.

Working with teens. Lower the pressure: no words to get right, just a face to point at.

Couples and families. Each person picks how a shared moment felt; compare before discussing.

Journaling. A daily face and one sentence builds a map of your own moods over weeks.

Questions to ask

Prompts for a face on the table

“What is this person feeling — in your own words?”

“What might have happened a minute before this face?”

“Where in your body do you feel what this face is showing?”

“Is there a second face that adds what the first one missed?”

“What would this face need from someone right now?”

“Which face do you show people — and which one is underneath?”

Example spreads

Three simple layouts

Short spreads work best with faces: fewer cards, longer looking.

Here and now

1 card

1How I feel right now

Single card

Mask and underneath

2 cards

1The face I show
2The feeling behind it

Two-sided desk

Now and wanted

3 cards

1How I feel now
2The smallest step
3How I'd like to feel

Timeline matrix

Watercolour card from Faces & Expressions: a woman whose smile doesn't quite reach her eyes

The artwork

Painted to be read, not decoded

Every face is an original watercolour portrait created for MindTrays — fictional people of every age, painted with care at the eyes and mouth while the edges dissolve into the paper. The softness is deliberate: it leaves room for the viewer's own reading.

No card carries a word, a caption or an emotion label. Cards render at 1024×1536, so the small movements of a face stay visible when a client zooms in.

How to work with it

Four steps, one feeling at a time

1

Pick a group — or all

Start with one family of feeling, or put all 60 faces out when you don't know yet.

2

Choose face up

Let the person browse and point. The first face they stop at matters.

3

Name it together

Ask what the face is feeling in their words. Resist offering yours.

4

Save what surfaced

Write the word you found. The spread saves with the session.

Questions

About emotion cards

What are emotion cards used for?

To help people recognise, name and talk about feelings — in therapy, counselling, coaching, schools, families and personal journaling.

Are emotion cards only for children?

No. The faces cover every age, and adults use them just as often — in couples work, supervision, burnout coaching and self-reflection.

Why don't the cards say which emotion they show?

Because the same face reads differently to different people, and that difference is useful. A fixed label would turn a conversation into a quiz.

How many cards are in the deck?

60 watercolour faces and one back, in eight families of feeling. The grouping helps you choose; mixing is encouraged.

Can I use the deck online?

Yes. Start a collaborative session from the deck and send the link — your client joins with a display name and chooses faces on the same desk.

Is this like Tarot?

No. There is no symbolism to learn and nothing is predicted. A face reflects what the person brings to it — that is all.

Other decks

Also good for feelings work

MindTrays Relationships

60 cards

MindTrays Doors & Thresholds

45 cards

Mindtrays Textures & Abstractions

50 cards

Find the face for how you feel

Open MindTrays Faces & Expressions, put a few faces on the table and point to the one that fits. With a client online? Start a collaborative session and send them the link.