5th Place

At 5th Place our mission is to make the world a better place by enabling the how…

How to be less stressed; how to be less anxious; how to get better sleep; how to avoid burnout; how to not feel guilty when I choose me, how to make better choices under pressure and so on…

5th Place offers research, training, education coaching and therapeutic services for groups, organisations and individuals on how to become and remain emotionally fit by enabling them to regulate how they feel.

There are several benefits of emotion regulation for mental health, including:

• Improved mood: Emotion regulation can help to reduce negative emotions such as sadness, anxiety, and anger, leading to an overall improvement in mood.
• Reduced stress: Effective emotion regulation can help to reduce stress levels, which in turn can help to prevent the development of mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression.
• Better interpersonal relationships: When individuals are better able to regulate their emotions, they are better equipped to handle conflicts and maintain positive relationships with others.
• Improved cognitive functioning: Emotion regulation can help to improve cognitive functioning, including attention, memory, and decision-making abilities.
• Enhanced coping skills: Emotion regulation skills can help individuals cope with difficult situations in a more constructive and healthy manner, reducing the risk of developing mental health issues.
• Reduced risk of substance abuse: Effective emotion regulation can help to reduce the risk of turning to substances such as drugs or alcohol to cope with negative emotions.

Emotion regulation is an important aspect of mental health

Overall, emotion regulation and emotional fitness is an important aspect of mental health that can have a significant impact on an individual's well-being.

Emotional fitness can help us cultivate a deeper sense of connection and alignment within ourselves, with others, and with the world around us. It can also help us tap into our innate resilience, creativity, and sense of purpose, allowing us to navigate life's challenges with greater ease and clarity. Ultimately, emotional fitness is a powerful tool for cultivating greater well-being, fulfilment, and meaning in our lives.

When individuals are able to regulate their emotions and improve their emotional fitness, they become more resilient and better able to handle the challenges of daily life. They are also more likely to form meaningful connections with others and to engage with the world in a positive way. As a result, not only do they experience greater well-being, but the world around them is enriched as well.

Emotional fitness is an ongoing process

Building emotional fitness is an ongoing process of developing one's emotional agility and resilience. It involves becoming more aware of one's emotions, understanding how they impact one's thoughts and behaviours, and learning how to manage them effectively.

Emotional fitness also includes developing the ability to bounce back from setbacks and challenges, to stay focused and motivated in the face of adversity, and to maintain a positive outlook and attitude. Ultimately, emotional fitness enables individuals to lead happier, more fulfilling lives, and to develop stronger, more meaningful relationships with others.

Emotional fitness and the environment

Emotional fitness can help individuals to develop a stronger connection with the environment and the planet. By regulating their emotions and feeling more connected to themselves and others, individuals may be more likely to make decisions that support the well-being of the planet and take actions that help to reduce their impact on the environment. Emotional fitness can also help individuals to cope with the stress and anxiety that can arise from environmental concerns and motivate them to take action towards creating a more sustainable world.

Shape of Emotion

In 2017 after 10 months of research, 5th Place developed a new approach to emotion regulation called Shape of Emotion. Shape of Emotion is a model, process, and tool for managing emotions. It is a bodyful and mindful process designed to down-regulate difficult emotions and up-regulate supportive emotions in the moment. It draws from the latest advances in neuroscience and is easy to use and learn, and is content-free.

Shape of Emotion is one of the few, if not the only, full model of emotion regulation that allows individuals to both upregulate and downregulate their emotional states. The technique is based on the theory that emotions are not just subjective experiences, but also physical sensations that can be located in the body. By paying attention to these sensations and using the Shape of Emotion process, individuals can gain greater awareness and control over their emotional states.

One-on-one therapy & the high demand for mental health services

Traditional one-on-one therapy cannot meet the high demand for mental health services in many parts of the world, including in South Africa and other developing countries.

Shape of Emotion was designed to work with groups of people, either face to face or online, in order to address the scale of mental, emotional, and physical health challenges faced by society today. The ability to work with large groups is a key aspect of the approach taken by 5th Place, the company behind Shape of Emotion. By working in groups, the method is able to reach a larger number of people and provide a more cost-effective solution to the mental health challenges faced by many communities, particularly in under-resourced settings.

The shortage of qualified professionals and limited (financial) resources can be major barriers to accessing mental health care. This is one of the reasons why innovative approaches like Shape of Emotion can be valuable and relevant for addressing mental health challenges. By providing a tool that can be used in groups, as well as individually, it can help to reach more people and provide effective support for emotional regulation and well-being.