As we’re making our way through our healing journeys, we might come across the term “emotional intelligence.” What does this mean? How do we know if we’re emotionally intelligent or not? Are there ways we can develop and strengthen our emotional intelligence?
Seeking Emotional Awareness, Clarity, and Understanding
Emotional intelligence is the ability to have awareness, understanding, clarity, and mindfulness around our emotions. When we’re emotionally intelligent, we’re able to express our feelings while remaining in control of them. We’re ready to handle relationships and experiences with care and intention. When tough emotions come up, we seek to understand them in greater depth and to move through them in healthy ways. The opposite of emotional intelligence might be considered emotional immaturity. This means we don’t understand our emotions. They’re confusing and overwhelming for us, causing us to lash out and feel out of control. Our relationship with our inner selves suffers because we’re unable to learn from our emotions. We’re unable to fulfill our own emotional needs. Similarly, our relationships with other people can suffer. Without emotional maturity, we’re not able to give others the respect, consideration, and compassion they deserve. We’re not able to respect emotional boundaries, and we struggle to have healthy communication with others.
Developing Emotional Mindfulness
Cultivating emotional intelligence requires us to be mindful of our emotions and those of other people. How do you express your feelings? Do you allow yourself to feel your emotions, or do you suppress and avoid them? Are you open and accepting of your tough emotions, or are you resistant to them? Do you push yourself to get over your feelings and pressure others to do the same? Do you have a healthy relationship with your inner self, or do you experience emotional blockages? Are your interpersonal relationships healthy? What are the psychological dynamics in those relationships? Asking ourselves these questions is necessary to develop emotional mindfulness. The more aware we become of our emotional patterns, the more emotionally intelligent we become.
At The Guest House Ocala, we operate on the principle that each of our clients will benefit most from a highly personalized treatment plan.
We have helped countless people recover, and we’re here to help you too.
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theguesthouseocala.com
3230 Northeast 55th Avenue Silver Springs, FL 34488