Children experience the same emotions as adults. They can feel everything from happiness to sadness to anger to nervousness to even stress. However unlike adults, many children do not understand how to effectively deal with the range of emotions they experience. Just like other life skills parents pass onto their children, it is also important for parents to help their children be “emotionally intelligent.” What does it mean to have emotional intelligence?
Emotional intelligence means that you are able to:
- Recognize what emotion you or another person is feeling
- Evaluate if you like the emotion you are feeling
- Effectively manage your emotions
- Be aware of how emotions influence your own and others’ behavior
- Be able to consistently calm yourself down or comfort others
Studies have shown that there are many positive health benefits to being an emotionally intelligent person. Some of the benefits include:
- Able to interact well with others and build healthy relationships
- Better able to lead others and be effective managers
- Work collaboratively in teams
- Have a stronger sense of empathy and compassion
- More resilient and flexible
- Able to self-regulate and control their emotions as needed
It is important for parents to nurture their children’s emotional intelligence just like they support their children learning other life skills. Check out part two of the Raising Emotionally Intelligent Children blog to learn practical ways you can help your child.
Laura Lebovitz
LLebovitz @ GROWcounseling.com