Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to assess the effects of a program to develop socioemotional competence (SEC) focused on self-awareness and emotional self-management as a resource for the well-being and stress relief of teachers at a Brazilian public school in a socially vulnerable region. Design/methodology/approach: Eighteen (18) teachers took part in a participatory action research approach. The data collection techniques used were: conversation wheel, individual interview, participant observation and focus group. The emotional education program (PEEP) was conducted in ten 90-min meetings. The data were analyzed using thematic content analysis. Findings: There were two categories identified: an increase in the teachers' self-awareness and emotional self-management skills. These findings yielded reports of improvements in their ability to deal with their own emotions, better management of the emotional demands of daily school life and positive reflexes on their well-being and teaching practice. Research limitations/implications: Dealing better with emotions involves several skills that need time to be developed and assimilated and PEEP has been applied in a relatively short time. In addition, its application in a wider range of situations has not been evaluated. Originality/value: This study is linked to a few others that were carried out on the effects that intervention programs had on a teacher's SEC. It was evident that following the steps of the action research enhanced the researcher's connection with the teachers, and it provided a genuine understanding of what it means to be studied. Because of this, it was possible to get a deeper understanding of teachers' emotional states, and the actions and results were legitimized by the participants.