Emotional wellbeing is increasingly recognised as distinct from the absence of distress, yet much psychological research and clinical practice continues to prioritise symptom reduction over the cultivation of positive emotional functioning. This portfolio contributes to this shift by examining emotion regulation across complementary pathways, exploring both top-down and bottom-up processes to better understand how wellbeing may be supported in everyday and transitional contexts.

Part one of this portfolio presents a quantitative study exploring the relationship between emotion regulation strategies and discrete positive emotion dispositions. Drawing on dual-process models of emotion regulation, the study investigates how top-down strategies, such as cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression, relate to individual differences in experiences such as joy, love, and awe. The findings demonstrate consistent positive associations between reappraisal and all measured positive emotions, alongside negative associations with suppression. This highlights the importance of cognitively mediated regulation in shaping emotional experience and supporting wellbeing.

Part two of this portfolio presents a qualitative study exploring menopausal sleep disturbance and the use of aromatherapy as a self-directed coping strategy. Using reflexive thematic analysis, the study examines how women experience sleep disruption and how sensory-based practices are used to manage emotional distress. Findings indicate that aromatherapy functions not as a curative intervention, but as a form of bottom-up emotion regulation, supporting emotional soothing, routine, and reconnection with the body during a period of uncertainty and identity disruption.

Together, these studies highlight the value of integrating top-down and bottom-up approaches to emotion regulation, suggesting that wellbeing is best supported through flexible, context-sensitive regulatory processes that extend beyond symptom-focused models of care.