What is emotional intelligence?
“What is Emotional Intelligence?” I’m so glad you asked! So you’ve got a masters degree and think you’re pretty smart so you must have emotional intelligence, right? Womp womp. WRONG
Emotional Intelligence defined is a combination of traits and qualities including self-awareness, emotional control, self-motivation, empathy and relationship skills (Busch & Oakley, 2017). Emotional Intelligence is necessary for clinical counsellors to be able to relate to the experiences of their clients and build trust and rapport (Ivey et al., 2013; Young, 2013).
Professional counsellors can only be effective in the role if they have emotional intelligence. Counselling differs from some other therapy methods in that it requires the ability to connect and empathise with clients rather than engage from more of a scientific standpoint. This is why lived experience in counselling is more important than theoretical knowledge. Finding a counsellor who can empathise with your situation may well get you where you want to be sooner because, put simply, they “get it”.
The Global Leadership Foundation offers a FREE online Emotional Intelligence test which divides results into four quadrants of “Self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management”. In a study which measured the relationship between emotional intelligence and counselling self-efficacy of one-hundred and eighteen trainee counsellors and professional counsellors, the participants undertook the Counselling Self-Estimate Inventory (COSE) and emotional Judgement Inventory (EJI). The result found that emotional intelligence is prevalent in people preparing for careers as professional counsellors (Martin et al., 2008). Lower stress and distress, higher affective and cognitive empathy, and age were displayed by trainee counsellors who had higher levels of emotional intelligence (Gutierrez et al., 2017).
The good news is that Emotional Intelligence can be learned. You can test your current level of Emotional Intelligence here. Danny Goleman’s bestselling book from 2006, “Emotional Intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ” is a deep dive into the subject and I highly recommend you read it. BUY Daniel Goleman’s book “Emotional Intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ”
Emotional intelligence enhances relationships and enriches lives. If you’re curious about how to increase your emotional intelligence and improve your life, contact me today.