Why you should not underestimate Emotional Intelligence
Thousands of years ago the human being began to intuit that there is something to what we now call intelligence. This set of mental abilities has a concrete facet and a highly abstract one, which means that it is embodied in any day-to-day action, such as accounting, but it is also noted beyond each one of them. It is present in a latent way in us, in a way that reflects tendencies in our behavior: those who are skilled at performing a mathematical operation tend to be also doing others.
But the fact that intelligence is a latent abstract feature has caused a great debate to be generated when defining its limits and defining the concept. What exactly does it mean to be intelligent? The concept of Emotional Intelligence it helps us to capture new dimensions of intelligent behavior.
- Related article: "A review of the main explanations about the human intellect and its different types."
Discovering Emotional Intelligence
Surely because of the pressures of the labor market, which gives more value to some tasks than others depending on their ability to generate profitable products, those skills related to mathematics and the use of language have been the central pillar of what we understand as intelligence.
But in the last decades ideas have appeared that question this vision of the intelligent, considering it limited. Intelligence is a set of different "bundles" of mental abilities Yes, but some of them can not be measured by solving exercises with a predetermined correct answer that must be written on a sheet of paper. Emotional Intelligence is an example of this, because it is based on the regulation and interpretation of emotional states.
To shed more light on the nature of this type of mental aptitudes, this time we interviewed Mª Teresa Mata Massó, general sanitary psychologist of the Mensalus Institute of Barcelona, expert in Emotional Intelligence.
How would you explain in a summarized way what Emotional Intelligence is?
Emotional Intelligence is that part of the intelligence that pays special attention to the functionality of our system of thoughts, emotions and actions, with the aim of ensuring its sustainability. If what I feel is not consistent with what I think, if what I do is not true to what I believe, if what I end up showing is far from who I think I am, I can hardly feel good about myself and others (that's what they call emotional well-being).
Statistically, what aspects of our lives help us predict the fact of having a higher or lower Emotional Intelligence? For example, scoring high in it makes us more likely to ...
Having Emotional Intelligence makes us people who are given the opportunity to choose according to the circumstances, their beliefs, their values, their mood, etc. Nothing is determined and, therefore, the decision is always possible. This offers freedom to the individual, allows him to move in a coherent and fluid way. So, if we enjoy emotional intelligence it is more possible that we work better and achieve our goals and not at any price.
In what way can we use training in Emotional Intelligence in the context of psychotherapy?
In psychotherapy we are constantly analyzing and training the Emotional Intelligence of the individual. Knowing exactly the elements that compose it will help us to have clearer therapeutic objectives.
For example, we may aim to work on assertiveness since the patient communicates from a passive communication style and finds it difficult to set limits. Well, what will we train of assertiveness? The reasons why this person has trouble saying no? Your assertive rights and, with it, your self-concept and your self-esteem? Your difficulty in accepting criticism and your tendency to personalize? The possibility of analysis from a more objective position (the spectator role) ?, etc.
If we know in depth the elements that constitute this part of the intelligence we can create intervention strategies that pursue very specific objectives and not stay on the surface.
In what type of psychological problems does it help more to have worked this type of mental abilities?
There are no concrete psychological problems for which the Emotional Intelligence is more necessary since it is always necessary. According to the problem, we will work more skills or others. For this reason, from the training in Psychotherapy and Emotional Intelligence we emphasize the importance of carrying out a diagnostic hypothesis and create clinical hypotheses that allow us to work and pursue specific objectives as I explained in the previous question.
Could you give us an example that shows how Emotional Intelligence helps us to make the perspective on our problems change?
Developing Emotional Intelligence means questioning certain "comfort zones" from which we feel safe (but not comfortable) and discovering what exists outside. For this, it is necessary to contemplate new points of view, to put into practice new ways of doing things, to create new thoughts, to feel new ways of being, etc.
This is only possible if we enjoy mental flexibility or, as I like to define it: emotional plasticity.
Emotional Intelligence allows to increase the capacity to create and restructure. We verify this with techniques that show the emotional plasticity from the creation of untested solutions. An example is the dynamics with LEGO building pieces. The work of manipulating pieces in response to a mobilizing question (performed by the therapist) awakens spontaneous cognitive responses and less based on "the known" or "the repeated". These types of exercises offer useful and highly graphic information to the patient.
To assess how psychological therapy can benefit from interventions based on Emotional Intelligence, we must be clear if in general everyone can train these skills. Is it like that? And from what age can these competencies be worked on in patients?
We must clarify that the Emotional Intelligence is done, not born, so we can all train it throughout life, there is no age. When it comes to working it, the important thing is to know the specific needs of that person and, of course, to get into who this person is in order to understand how their system of thoughts and emotions has been shaped. Vital experiences, emotional inheritance, personality traits and their current moment will give us clues to understand how to build reality and what elements can help it to improve its functionality.
Finally ... In what way do emotionally intelligent people usually face the emotion of sadness?
Accepting that it is a useful emotion, just like the rest of emotions. We need the emotion to understand who we are and who are the people who live around us. We can not live well without this GPS, we would be totally lost. Sadness, fear, anger ... are life guides.
How to train in Emotional Intelligence?
One of the positive aspects of training in Emotional Intelligence is that the abilities that we acquire by polishing this type of mental processes are applicable to any area of life. Regardless of the conditions in which we live, perfecting them will produce a significant change, since our own and others' emotions are inherent to life.
If you are interested in this type of learning programs, the online Emotional Intelligence Expert course of the Mensalus Institute can answer your needs. The course starts on September 17, 2018 and ends on November 17 of the same year, and consists of theoretical-practical classes, audiovisual learning material, virtual classroom and supervision by a tutor. Registrations are now open, so if you are interested in signing up or getting more information, you can do so through the Mensalus website or through the contact information you will find by clicking on this link.
