Many of the feelings charts for adults that come up in a search are word lists or feelings wheels: dozens of words in small type, made for journaling or for counseling sessions. This one is for a different moment. It is for an adult who finds it hard to find or say the word right now, for example after a stroke, while living with aphasia or with dementia, or simply when they are worn out, and for the person sitting with them.
What's in the free file
- One chart, 12 squares. Each square is about 2 1/4 by 2 inches (58 by 52 mm), with one picture and one word.
- Answers first. The top row is Yes, No and Something else, so a question always has somewhere to land.
- Nine feelings: Happy, Okay, Sad, Worried, Scared, Angry, Frustrated, Tired and In pain.
- Large print. The words are 24 point bold (Something else is 21 point, to fit on one line). The American Council of the Blind sets 18 point as the base for large print.
- Pictures of adults for the nine feelings, drawn simply, with no emoji faces. Yes, No and Something else are a tick, a cross and a speech bubble.
- Page 2: a short guide for family and friends, five steps on one page.
- Sizes: US Letter and A4, as two files. The squares print the same size on both.
The pictures were drafted with AI image tools and curated by us. They come from the same set as our full Feelings Chart for Adults.
What does each square say?
The 12 squares, row by row
| Row | Squares | Why they are there |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yes, No, Something else | The answers to every question you ask with the chart |
| 2 | Happy, Okay, Sad | The everyday answers to "How are you feeling?" |
| 3 | Worried, Scared, Angry | Feelings that are hard to say out loud, and easy to miss |
| 4 | Frustrated, Tired, In pain | What is often behind a hard moment |
Tired and In pain are not feelings in the strict sense. They are on the chart because they are often the real answer to "How are you feeling?".
Frustrated has its own square for a reason. The American Stroke Association lists fear, frustration, anger, grief, sadness and anxiety among the common feelings after a stroke. When words are hard to find, naming frustration together is easier than guessing at it.
Who uses a feelings chart for adults?
- An adult after a stroke, when words are slow to come or come out wrong. Our guide to communication boards after a stroke covers the first weeks at home and in the hospital.
- An adult living with aphasia. Aphasia affects language, not intelligence: the person knows how they feel and can't always find the word. See our aphasia communication board guide.
- An adult living with dementia. The Alzheimer's Association lists trouble finding the right words, and relying on gestures more than speaking, among the changes families notice.
- Anyone too tired or unwell to talk, in a hospital bed or at home.
- The people around them: a partner, a grown child, a friend, a home aide. The chart is as much for the person asking as for the person answering.
How is this different from a feelings wheel?
A feelings wheel puts dozens of feeling words in rings, from a few broad feelings in the middle out to finer shades at the edge. The best-known one, Gloria Willcox's Feeling Wheel, was published in 1982 in the Transactional Analysis Journal. Wheels suit someone who reads easily and wants the exact word, for journaling or a counseling session.
A picture chart is built the other way round:
| Feelings wheel | Picture feelings chart | |
|---|---|---|
| How many words | Dozens | A few: 12 squares on our free chart |
| Pictures | Usually none | One for every word |
| Print size | Small, to fit the rings | Large, to read from a chair or a bed |
| How it is used | Reading and choosing a word | Pointing, or nodding as someone else points |
| Best for | Finding the precise word | Saying the main thing, quickly |
If reading comes easily, a word list may be enough. If it doesn't, or it is a hard day, fewer and bigger squares are kinder.
How to use the chart together
- Put it where you can both see and reach it, in the same place every day: the bedside table, the arm of a chair, the kitchen table.
- Ask, then wait. "How are you feeling?" Then count to ten in your head. Finding the picture can take time.
- Point as you talk the first few times, so the chart becomes part of the conversation rather than a test.
- Check back. "Worried? Yes?" Point to Yes and No so the answer is clear to both of you.
- Ask one follow-up question at a time, with a yes or no answer: "Is it about tomorrow?", "Is it the pain?"
- If the answer is Something else, keep going. It means "not on here, keep asking", not "never mind".
- Take the answer as it is. There is no wrong feeling to point to, and no need to talk anyone out of one.
If pointing is hard, a family member can point to each square in turn while the person signals yes with a nod, a blink or a hand squeeze. Our stroke communication board guide explains this, called partner-assisted scanning, step by step.
Where do people keep the chart?
- Next to the communication board, if the person uses one. Feelings and needs often come up together. Our free basic needs board has the needs side.
- By the bed or the favorite chair, at hand without getting up.
- On a clipboard, so it can travel from room to room.
- In the hospital bag, with a note for staff: "Please ask me how I feel with this chart."
- Two copies, so one is always where it is needed.
How to print and set it up
- Print at "Actual size" (100%), not "Fit to page", so the squares stay large. Color shows the pictures best, and black and white still works.
- Use cardstock if you have it, so the page stands up to daily pointing.
- Laminate it or slide it into a sheet protector, so it wipes clean. A matte pouch shines less under a lamp.
- Fold page 2 in half and keep it with the chart for visitors, or tape it inside a cupboard door.
- Show visitors how it works in a sentence at the door: "Ask how he's feeling, then wait and let him point."
What the chart is not
It is a way to say a feeling in the moment. It is not a mood test, it doesn't measure anything over time, and it doesn't tell anyone why a person feels the way they do. Questions about mood, worry or behavior belong with the person's own doctor or care team.
Our full Feelings Chart for Adults has 16 feelings with Yes, No, I don't know and Something else, the same chart in black and white, a Right now page for how much and what would help, 20 spare cards, a page for the week's feelings, a blank chart for your own words, and the pictures in five skin tones.
Frequently asked questions
What is a feelings chart for adults?
It is a printed page of feeling words, sometimes with pictures, that an adult reads or points to when naming a feeling out loud is hard. Ours has 12 large squares, with the feelings shown on pictures of adults, not emoji faces.
Where can I get a free printable feelings chart for adults?
Doctor Carissa's free feelings chart is a PDF in US Letter and A4, sent by email: 12 squares with Yes, No and Something else in the top row, and a one-page guide for family and friends. Many free feelings wheels are word-only charts for counseling or journaling, with no pictures.
How many feelings should a chart for adults have?
Fewer is easier when talking is hard. Our free chart has nine feelings and three answers on one page, in large squares, about 2 1/4 by 2 inches each, easy to point to. Our full set has 16 feelings and spare cards, so a family can swap in the words their person uses most.
Why use pictures of adults instead of emoji faces?
Adults notice when a chart looks like it was made for a child. The DEEP guide, written with people living with dementia, says photographs are often preferable to illustrations, and that cartoons are sometimes difficult to interpret or seem patronising. Ours are simple drawings of adults, with no emoji faces, and one large word under each.
Can someone with aphasia use a feelings chart?
Yes. Aphasia can affect reading as well as speaking, so each square has a picture as well as a word, and the person can point while you say the word aloud. The National Aphasia Association suggests giving plenty of time, using yes or no questions and repeating back what you understood.
Illustrations drafted with AI image tools and curated by us. Free printables come with a personal-use license: how you can use a printable.
Sources
We opened and checked every link on October 5, 2026.
- Emotional and Behavioral Effects of Stroke, American Stroke Association. Feelings of fear, frustration, anger, grief, sadness, anxiety and depression are common after a stroke.
- Communication supports, National Aphasia Association. Give plenty of time for responses; combine speech with gestures, drawings, writing, pictures or communication aids; ask yes or no or choice questions; repeat back what you understood.
- Aphasia and Stroke, American Stroke Association. Aphasia doesn't affect intelligence.
- Communication and Alzheimer's, Alzheimer's Association. Changes include difficulty finding the right words and relying on gestures more than speaking; take time to listen to the person's thoughts, feelings and needs, and ask one question at a time.
- Writing dementia-friendly information (PDF), DEEP (the Dementia Engagement and Empowerment Project). Pictures alongside text are helpful; photographs are often preferable to illustrations, especially cartoons, which are sometimes difficult to interpret or seem patronising.
- The Feeling Wheel: A Tool for Expanding Awareness of Emotions and Increasing Spontaneity and Intimacy (Gloria Willcox, 1982), Transactional Analysis Journal. The original feelings wheel, vol. 12, no. 4.
- Large Print Guidelines, American Council of the Blind. 18 point as the base for large print; a matte or dull paper finish to reduce glare.
An educational support tool. Not a substitute for evaluation or treatment by a licensed speech-language pathologist or physician. Read the full disclaimer.