Emotional Health Alliance

Based in the United Kingdom, the Emotional Health Alliance is a learning network comprised of twenty organizations that works to ensure that today’s emotional challenge does not become tomorrow’s problem.

James Park, Chair of the Emotional Health Alliance: “The approaches we offer are designed to help children and young people free themselves from emotional confusion so that they can work out much better solutions that work for them.  That means offering children and young people the experience of a relationship that enables them to replace confusion with coherence, anger with containment, anxiety with calm, and fear with comfort.”

“We can insure that today’s emotional challenge does not become tomorrow’s problem because building relationships in which young people can work things out for themselves is a much better stimulus for their growth and maturity than telling them how to behave; because enabling young people to think, together with their teachers and with each other about how they want to learn and what they want to learn, will do much more for their attainment than driving them to higher exam results; and because shaping school environments in which staff, as well as students, feel capable, listened to, accepted, safe and included (CLASI) will enable everyone to achieve more and enrich alliance.”

Original Web Site: www.ehalliance.org.uk

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Writing For Emotional Balance – Beth Jacobs

Writing For Emotional Balance: A Guided Journal To Help You Manage Overwhelming Emotions was written by Beth Jacobs and published in 2005.

“Beginning with an explanation about the value of keeping a journal, Jacobs then guides readers through various processes to clarify our understanding of the subjective nature of emotions and how they are influenced by time and memory. Readers then learn how to define and evaluate their emotions, predict their emotional patterns, release emotions that no longer serve them, and refocus and organize their emotional life in ways that are more appropriate and fulfilling. Supported by over 30 hands-on exercises, this guide is an excellent resource for novice and seasoned journalists alike.” — Larry Trivieri Jr.

Excerpt from editorial review: “The process of writing about overwhelming emotions is a remarkably effective means of creating clarity and perspective in your life. Regular journal writers and diarists rely on their writing to help them keep their emotions in perspective; this book distills the best emotional benefits of regular personal writing into a series of engaging and easy-to-practice writing exercises…

By learning to gauge their emotional reactions on a “feelings barometer,” readers will come to understand the perceived strength of an emotion. Further exercises encourage readers to discover emotional triggers, write an emotional history, and connect physical and emotional responses. By practicing these exercises, readers will develop a language of positive imagery that will enhance comfort and peace of mind.”

Website:  WritingForEmotionalBalance.com

For sale at Amazon.com.

August 2008 article by Beth Jacobs, “The Brain, Emotions, and Writing: Why They All Work Together“

Beyond the Shadows of Stigma

“Beyond the Shadows of Stigma” is an 8-minute video produced by the Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation (CPR) that highlights the work of participants in a Photovoice course, “Taking off the Blinders: A Project to Combat Stigma and Discrimination.”

Photovoice puts cameras in the hands of individuals and asks them to produce statements made up of pictures and words that communicate their experience. CPR’s Photovoice course supports the personal empowerment of those living with serious mental illnesses in combating stigma.

The Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation (CPR) is affiliated with Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences at Boston University. The Center is a research, training, and service organization dedicated to improving the lives of persons who have psychiatric disabilities by improving the effectiveness of people, programs, and service systems.

CPR’s Personal Assistance Services (PAS) Curriculum delivers training that prepares individuals to become PAS providers for those with psychiatric disabilities. The curriculum is designed to be used by individuals with disabilities, mental health workers, and those with no expertise in mental health. The PAS Curriculum is free and available for download from the Center’s website.

Emotional Blackmail – Susan Forward, Beverly Engel

In her book, Emotional Blackmail: When the People in Your Life Use Fear, Obligation, and Guilt to Manipulate You, Susan Forward writes, “Emotional blackmail is a powerful form of manipulation in which people close to us threaten to punish us for not doing what they want… This book offers a method to break this cycle for good by giving blackmail targets the tools they need and steps they can take.”

Susan Forward’s web site: SusanForward.com

In her book, The Emotionally Abusive Relationship, Beverly Engel writes, “Emotional blackmail is one of the most powerful forms of manipulation. It occurs when one partner either consciously or unconsciously coerces the other into doing what he wants by playing on his partner’s fear, guilt, or compassion.”

Beverly Engel is an MFCT (Marriage, Family, Child Therapist), psychotherapist, and author of eighteen self-help books, including Healing Your Emotional Self, Honor Your Anger, and The Emotionally Abusive Relationship.

In her review of Engel’s book, Healing Your Emotional Self, Joyce Catlett, coauthor of Fear of Intimacy, wrote, “As adults, many of us are still limited by the defenses we formed when trying to protect ourselves in the face of the painful circumstances we found ourselves in as children. Engel’s insightful questionnaires and exercises provide concrete help in the healing process.”

Beverly Engel’s web site: BeverlyEngel.com

Positive Emotional Psychology – Barbara Fredrickson

Barbara Fredrickson, a pioneer in the field of positive emotional psychology, is a Professor of Psychology and principal investigator of the Positive Emotions and Psychophysiology Laboratory (a.k.a. PEP Lab) at the University of North Carolina.

In her new book (published in January), Positivity: Groundbreaking Research Reveals How to Embrace the Hidden Strength of Positive Emotions, Overcome Negativity, and Thrive, Fredrickson shares how experiencing positive emotions in a 3-to-1 ratio to negative emotions leads people “to a tipping point beyond which they naturally become more resilient to adversity and effortlessly achieve what they once could only imagine.”

Publishers Weekly: “Positivity introduces readers to the power of harnessing happiness to transform their lives, backed up by impressive lab research. The author lays out the core truths and 10 forms of positivity – joy, gratitude, serenity, interest, hope, pride, amusement, inspiration, awe and love – in a book that promises to change the way people look at feeling good…  The book includes compelling case studies, concrete tips, a Positivity Self Test and a tool kit for decreasing negativity and raising the positivity ratio.”

Fredrickson offers a two minute online quiz designed to provide a snapshot of how your emotions of the past day combine to create your positivity ratio.  The result is that it might help you learn the sources of your positive emotions and the triggers for your negative ones.

The Positive Emotions and Psychophysiology Laboratory “studies people’s emotions, particularly their positive emotions. We are interested in how positive emotions affect people’s thinking patterns, social behavior, and physiological reactions. Our ultimate goal is to understand how positive emotions might accumulate and compound to transform people’s lives for the better.”

The International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA) was founded in 2007 to promote the science and practice of positive psychology and to facilitate communication and collaboration among researchers and practitioners around the world who are interested in positive psychology. The First World Congress on Positive Psychology was held last week (June 18-21) in Philadelphia.

See Barbara Fredrickson’s website:  PositivityRatio.com

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Emotional Healing – Barbara Miller Fishman

Barbara Miller Fishman, Ph.D. is an author, psychotherapist, and meditation teacher who has extensive experience working with people on a psychological and spiritual path toward healing and wholeness.  After years of working with women as a psychotherapist, she developed the discipline of Mindfulness Psychotherapy, a combination of mindfulness meditation and psychotherapy.

Fishman’s book, Emotional Healing through Mindfulness Meditation: Stories and Meditations on the Search for Wholeness (Inner Traditions, 2002), features healing stories of eight women who faced serious trouble before discovering the will to walk “on the path toward wholeness.”

Excerpts from her web site, EmotionalHealing.net:

“This commitment came with a heavy price. If they wanted to truly live, they had to penetrate the inner turmoil that comes with trouble, be it shame, despair, or any one of a number of difficult emotions…  Getting to know the emotions that drove the old patterns, the women felt more grounded…  Emotions that once raged became quiet. The women felt at peace with themselves; they had more energy for life.”

Fishman writes about the importance of naming the emotions that accompany trouble.  “Naming these emotions, even if it is painful, produces a more authentic, genuine response to life.”

She also writes about “cultivating complete acceptance,” and “developing equanimity” – referring to emotions that are in balance.

“After each story, you’ll find the instructions for a mindfulness meditation. Taken together, these meditations are a course in what I call Mindfulness Psychotherapy. Try taking the course; perhaps it will help you heal your own emotions. For those who prefer to hear rather than read, an accompanying 70 minute CD provides four of the meditations.”

“The narratives are punctuated at points when the women had insights that shifted the ground on which they stood, if only a millimeter or two. These insights led them to make choices that freed them from patterned, habitual behavior and moved them forward on their path toward wholeness.”

In her blog, Barbara Miller Fishman writes, “If an emotion is too powerful, it overrides other emotions. When that happens, it’s important to look for the presence of other feeling states (body sensations indicative of an emotion.)”

Fishman, who lives in Pennsylvania, is also co-author of Resonance: The New Chemistry of Love.

Web Site:  EmotionalHealing.net

Blog:  meditationexperience.blogspot.com


Emotional Maturity

At a birthday celebration some years ago, a friend of ours raised a glass and said, “I never grew up and I never stopped growing.”

What is emotional maturity? DJ Chuang writes, “Emotional maturity isn’t something that necessarily grows with chronological age… Emotional maturity is being responsible for one’s behaviors. Emotional maturity recognizes it’s okay to feel. Emotional maturity doesn’t mean every person will feel the same way about a situation.”

Ken Helfant is the author of Questions to Grow By: A Path to Emotional Maturity (iUniverse, 2005).  Helfant has a PhD in Educational and Social Psychology from Columbia University and is a graduate of the National Psychological Association for Psychoanalysis. He is currently in part-time private practice in Oceano, California.

In an editorial review of Helfant’s book, Ronald E. Fox, former president of the American Psychological Association, wrote, “Questions to Grow By presents a very practical and engaging way for readers to move toward increased happiness through increased emotional maturity.”

See:  http://books.google.com/books?id=OHrihQZjkGAC

Jerome L. Murray has a Ph.D. in clinical psychology. He headed a mental health clinic in California for 15 years and was honored by the California State Senate for his contributions to the field of self-esteem. He is a consultant, speaker, and author, including a program for TrafficSchoolOnline.com in Napa and Sonoma counties (California).

Murray’s book, From Uptight to All Right, published in 1987, was endorsed by Dr. Karl Menninger of the Menninger Foundation and made required reading by the Heart Research Foundation.

In an often quoted article on emotional maturity, Are You Growing Up or Just Getting Older?, published in 1992, Murray wrote:

“We have no control over chronological age, and only minimal control over intellectual and physiological age; however, we can choose our social and emotional age…  A person may be chronologically mature, but emotionally immature. A person may also be intellectually mature, but emotionally immature…  Just because someone is “grown-up” by age doesn’t mean they are “grown-up” emotionally… Your relationships are dependent upon your total emotional development.”

Murray lists four symptoms of emotional immaturity, eight characteristics of emotional maturity, and five ways to grow more emotionally mature.

See: http://www.sonic.net/~drmurray/maturity.htm

Searching the Internet, we found several quizzes and tests for emotional maturity, including one by Dorothy McCoy, published in September 2008.

Dorothy McCoy is a psychiatrist, licensed professional counselor, and author of several books, including The Ultimate Book Of Personality Tests (2005), From Shyness to Social Butterfly (2002), and The Manipulative Man: Identify His Behavior, Counter the Abuse, Regain Control (2006).

In her article, Understanding Emotional Maturity, McCoy wrote, “Extended, mutually satisfying relationships are the product of two emotionally mature individuals.”

Emotional Maturity Quizzes and Tests:

1) http://www.personalityone.com/emotional-maturity-test.html

2) http://www.mysticgames.com/mysticgames_cfmfiles/tests/showtest.cfm?TestID=24

3) http://www.bookofmatches.com/Emotional_Maturity_Personality.html

There are also a number of Emotional Intelligence tests on the Internet. Perhaps we’ll list some of them in another blog post.

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Emotional Intelligence – Daniel Goleman

In one of our first blog posts (October 2008), we shared news from Jamaica about a training manual, Raising Emotionally Smart Children. We explained at the time that “Emotional intelligence involves Self-awareness, Emotional management, Empathy, and Managing Relationships.”

Daniel Goleman, Ph.D., is a psychologist, author, and lecturer whose 1995 book (updated in 2005), Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ (Bantam Books) is an international bestseller with more than 5 million copies in print worldwide in 30 languages.

Goleman argues that our emotions play a much greater role in thought, decision making and individual success than is commonly acknowledged. He defines “emotional intelligence” – a trait not measured by IQ tests – as a set of skills, including control of one’s impulses, self-motivation, empathy and social competence in interpersonal relationships.

In our most recent blog post, we shared about a new study from the field of neuroscience that relates to moods and perception.

The connection between neuroscience and emotions has been studied by Daniel Goleman whose book, Social Intelligence: The New Science of Human Relationships (2006), explains how the rational and emotional work together to shape intelligence, using new information from neuroscience and psychology of the brain. He writes, “Social intelligence, the interpersonal part of emotional intelligence, can now be understood in terms of recent findings from neuroscience.”

Goleman’s latest book is Ecological Intelligence: How Knowing the Hidden Impacts of What We Buy Can Change Everything. (See Daniel Goleman’s related interview with Bill Moyers of PBS.)

Goleman is also the author of Healing Emotions: Conversations with the Dalai Lama on Mindfulness, Emotions, and Health (1997), Destructive Emotions: A Scientific Dialogue with the Dalai Lama (2003), Vital Lies, Simple Truths: The Psychology of Self Deception (1985), and other books.

Daniel Goleman was a science writer for the The New York Times for 12 years and has taught at Harvard where he received his doctorate.

For more info:  http://www.danielgoleman.info/


Mood & Perception – Feel Good See More, Feel Bad See Less

“Good and bad moods literally change the way our visual cortex operates and how we see,” says Adam Anderson, a University of Toronto professor of psychology, based on a study appearing in the current issue of the Journal of Neuroscience, as reported by Science Daily.
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Researchers used functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine how our visual cortex processes sensory information when in good, bad, and neutral moods.
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The study, supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Canada Research Chairs program, concluded that “when in a positive mood, our visual cortex takes in more information, while negative moods result in tunnel vision.”
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“Under positive moods, people may process a greater number of objects in their environment, which sounds like a good thing, but it also can result in distraction,” says Taylor Schmitz, a graduate student of Anderson’s and lead author of the study.  “Bad moods, on the other hand, may keep us more narrowly focused, preventing us from integrating information outside of our direct attentional focus.”
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‘Retail Therapy’ for Emotional Boost?

According to a HealthDay report published this week by IndyStar, a poll of 700 women “found that 79 percent said they’d go on a shopping spree to give themselves an emotional boost.”

The survey author, Karen Pine, refers to it as “compensatory consumption,” and says, “it serves as a way of regulating intense emotions.”

The poll, conducted by the University of Hertfordshire (England), found “about 40 percent listed “depression” and 60 percent listed “feeling a bit low” as reasons to go shopping and overspend.  Many of the women said shopping has the power to make them feel better.”

Yeah, until the bill arrives and “buyer’s remorse” sets in.

What might begin as “retail therapy” can become problematic if/when we don’t take care of our emotional and financial well being.  The best emotional boosts are the ones that are sustainable and nourish our core.