You analyse and channel your emotions

Your emotional profile
You react in a measured way after thinking your emotions through. "You listen to your emotions, know how to identify and decode them," explains psychotherapist Elizabeth Couzon. Whatever the emotion, happiness, anger, fear, sadness or shame, you try and understand it before you express it. You put your feelings into words calmly and easily, get them out into the open and get rid of them.

Your strengths
Whatever the situation, you never get your emotions get the better of you. "You keep your cool and address your listeners without blaming them for your problems. Another of your strong points is your ability to see your emotions as signals that you need to find an answer to the problem that is causing them."

Why am I like this?
"When you were a child, your parents taught you to express resentment," explains our psychotherapist. "You were taught that while all emotions are acceptable, not all kinds of behaviour are acceptable (such as having a tantrum to get your own way)." 

What you risk
Chanelling your emotions is fine, but there are times when it's best not to say exactly what you're feeling (for example, you can take some of the magic out of love by saying everything you're feeling!). The other risk is over-analysing your emotions and embellishing them with your thoughts. Sometimes (but not always...) you just need to say what you're feeling and then get on with what you're doing!

Elizabeth's advice
"When you channel your feelings into words, make sure you concentrate on yourself and speak to yourself in the first person, ie 'I feel like this' rather than 'Tom made me feel like this.' This is a good way of making sure you're channeling negative emotions the right way instead of placing the blame onto everyone else."