Mood Freezing: A Technique for Regulating Negative Emotions

As a therapist, you’ll probably be familiar with the idea that negative emotions can lead to aggressive words or actions. Often, this is because people have an underlying belief that projecting their feelings onto an external target will improve their own mood. The problem is that taking things out on other people causes social and practical problems. It seems, though, that ‘mood freezing’ can help.

Why do we take out stress and frustration on other people?

The idea that frustration and other negative emotions come out as aggression has been around for many years. It has been called variously venting, catharsis, redirection, and displacement. Many theories support the idea that it’s an attempt to regulate our own emotions. Broadly speaking, if we let the anger out, we feel we have somehow got rid of it. That may sometimes be true, but while “emotional pass the parcel” may temporarily resolve feelings, it doesn’t resolve them.

What is mood freezing?

In 1984, experimenter G. K. Manucia deliberately made people feel frustrated. They then took pills which Manicia said would ‘freeze’ their mood. This suggested that they could not change their mood, no matter what they did. In fact, the pills were placebos that had no effect at all. Despite this, people didn’t vent nearly as much after taking them.

In 2001, Bushman, Baumeister, and Phillips carried out a similar study that supported the original findings. Experimenters told some subjects that venting was a good way to release negative emotions. They told others that they had what the experimenters called ‘high anger-out tendencies’. All the participants vented when they became frustrated, if they had not taken the “mood-freezing pills”. Taking the pills significantly reduced the amount of venting. 

How does Mood Freezing Work?

Both experimenters believed this worked because participants expected venting to improve their mood. There was no benefit in venting if they believed their mood was “frozen”.

Once convinced that aggression wouldn’t help, participants proved more willing to try other solutions. These included relaxation, distraction techniques, and simply waiting the situation out.

How can we use mood freezing to help our clients?

Handing out placebo ‘mood-freezing’ pills probably isn’t an option for most therapists. However, you could use post-hypnotic suggestion for the same effect. An anchor would also allow the client to ‘freeze’ their mood when appropriate and make aggression pointless. Combine this with teaching alternative responses to gradually prevent the frustration from taking hold.

Alternatives to Venting

Sadly, there is no one method of coping with frustration and stress that will work for everyone. Your client may have to try a few things till they find their best solution. But the effort is worthwhile, and mood freezing will help to reduce venting while they try things out.

Here are some ideas to explore with them:

• Work on making the best of whatever happens. Identify the frustrations they can control and work on those. As they do this, the factors beyond their control should become less disturbing. 
• Ask them to retire to a quiet place before they get to the point of exploding. Count to ten. Go for a walk, being in natural surroundings has the best effect. Parks, streets with trees and greenery and undeveloped areas with natural plant growth (i.e. weeds) will do, so they don’t have to go miles from home.  
• Ask them to predict the consequences of different choices. This is something you can talk through in sessions. Use that quiet time to work out how different approaches are likely to end and choose the response with the best long-term outcome. Use ‘future pacing’ and suggestion work to reinforce and rehearse their choices. 
• Encourage clients to talk to family and friends about how they are feeling. Direct discussions usually work better than letting resentments build up over time. But help them to choose the right moment, which is not when they are feeling frustrated and angry. Teach some communication skills like safe conversation or assertiveness so they can express their needs in a positive and respectful way. 

• Identify the client’s triggers for frustration and anger where possible. The client may be aware of them, but if not, you can use regression or parts to identify them. Use desensitisation techniques such as collapsing anchors, hierarchy of fears (or, in this case, of triggers), or the rewind technique to reduce the impact of the triggers.
• Ask clients to keep a thought diary about what was going through their minds just before their frustration or aggression kicked in. Was it the criticism that upset them? Or was it that the other person said what they were thinking about themselves?  Help them to challenge those self-critical thoughts. 
• If you’re a movie hero or soap character, it might be fine to punch someone on the nose when they upset you or to smash household objects in a temper tantrum. In real life, it’s different, and aggression has emotional, legal and social consequences. Asking clients what the cost of their anger has been in terms of relationships, job losses etc can help to provide ‘away from’ or ‘push motivation which helps them start the process of change. 
• Ask them for a vivid description of what life will be like without these problems – what will they see, hear, feel, and do? Use this to provide ‘towards’ or ‘pull’ motivation to draw them towards their goal.  
• Work to reduce their stress levels generally. Develop self-care programmes that are practical and effective for your client and encourage them to use them regularly. 

Bushman at al (2001) said that they were ‘not asserting that affect regulation is the only link between negative affect and aggression’ (P14) but their work supported the notion that it was one factor, especially among people who believed that aggression would make them feel good. And they added that their results offered ‘positive hope for reducing aggression’ (P14). 

Freezing negative emotions in place might seem counterintuitive but, for some clients, it could provide the breathing space they need to get things under control.

There’s a strong link between mood freezing and placebo. If you want to find out more about placebo, read my article on placebo and hypnotherapy.

 References: accessed March 2026

• Bushman, B.J., Baumeister, R.F. and Phillips, C.M. (2001). Do people aggress to improve their mood? Catharsis beliefs, affect regulation opportunity, and aggressive responding. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, [online] 81(1), pp.17–32. Available at: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bbushman/bbp01.pdf
• www.waldenu.edu. (n.d.). Psychology 101: What Is Mood Freezing? [online] Available at: https://www.waldenu.edu/online-bachelors-programs/bs-in-psychology/resource/psychology-101-what-is-mood-freezing.

Disclaimer
The information and ideas shared on this blog are based on the author’s professional experience, research, and training. They are intended for educational purposes and to support reflection and professional development. Therapists should always apply their own professional judgment and consider the needs of individual clients when using any techniques or suggestions discussed here.
While every effort is made to ensure the information is accurate and helpful, no responsibility can be accepted for any loss, damage, or difficulties arising from the use or misuse of material contained in these articles.