Emotional Intelligence is how well a person can read and monitor their own emotions as well as the emotions of others.  There are proven benefits to increasing one’s emotional intelligence, including improved mental health, better job performance, and better relationship maintenance.  Emotional intelligence can be closely linked with empathy and allows us to better express ourselves and interpret the behavior of others.

Associated Concepts

  • Self-awareness: understanding one’s own emotions
  • Self-regulation: controlling one’s own internal states
  • Interpersonal social skills: maintaining relationships with others
  • Empathy: sharing and recognizing emotions of others
  • Motivation: general desire or willingness to do something

Why Emotional Intelligence is Important

Without emotional intelligence it would be exceedingly difficult to interact effectively with others.  Emotional intelligence allows us to perceive emotions, which then allows us to understand them.  This enables us to understand another person’s motivations so we can communicate more effectively with them.  Emotional intelligence further enables us to manage our own emotions.  Without awareness, we are subject to our emotional states and will easily be caught up in them.

In Therapy

Psychotherapy is not all analysis of underlying motivations.  Once issues are identified a therapist will help a client to better themselves by taking control of these forces.  Emotional intelligence can be considered an important part of this process.  A therapist helps a client improve their emotional intelligence so that the client can better understand themselves and struggle less when interacting with others.

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