Corazón y Mente Counselling

What is Emotional Intelligence? 

Emotional Intelligence refers to a person’s ability to understand and perceive their own and other people’s emotions, empathize under challenging situations, interact with other people, and control emotional impulses.

Nowadays, the main focus seems to lie on the development of only the intellectual abilities of children. This happens as a result of social pressure: it is generally accepted that feelings and emotions do not need special training. But such a stereotype may subsequently lead to psychosomatic disorders, which can manifest themselves in a child at any age.

Therefore, it is essential to correctly distribute efforts between the development of emotional and academic intelligence. Let's not put off emotional education “for later”. It should be started as early as possible, and it will be much easier for the child to adapt in society, communicate with peers and older children, make friends and maintain trusting relationships with parents.

 Emotional Intelligence in children looks like this:

•                     Developing emotional awareness – first of their own feelings, then emotions in others

•                     Recognizing, identifying, or perceiving emotions – as well as understanding what a feeling is, they’ll learn to grasp what facial expressions mean, body language, tone of voice, and so forth. They can attribute these to others, and eventually label these as “happy”, “angry”, “sad”

•                     Describing feelings – as well as naming emotions, they’ll learn how to use emotional vocabulary to convey how they feel

•                     Empathizing with others’ feelings – related to the above, this will at some point extend to feeling concern when others aren’t A-OK, or feeling sympathy for animals

•                     Controlling and managing their emotions – learning (and applying the knowledge) about when it’s suitable to act or react when they feel something

•                     Understanding what causes feelings – both in themselves and in others; and

•                     Understanding emotion-behaviour linkages – e.g. “Dad kicked the wall because he’s mad”.

 Over the course of several, well-structured classes, I will teach and discuss with the children what Emotional Intelligence is, how it helps us in our everyday lives, and how to build and grow it. I will include fun exercises and activities to deepen the understanding of the concept in a playful, child-friendly way.

 The classes will cover the five basic parts of Emotional Intelligence:

1.                  Self-awareness: When people know what they’re feeling at a particular time and           understand how their moods affect others.

2.                  Self-regulation: When people can control how they respond to their emotions.            They consider possible consequences before acting on impulse.

3.                  Motivation: When people can accomplish goals in spite of negative or distracting          feelings they may be having.

4.                  Empathy: When people can understand how others feel.

5.                  Social skills: When people can manage relationships. They know what kind of               behaviours get a positive response from others.

Apart from classes focusing on Emotional Intelligence, I offer consultations for parents and their children in my capacity as a certified child, adolescent and parent counsellor.

Especially with children and teenagers, qualified professionals can be a bridge between the child and the parents and help all involved deal with hard subjects, or simply with the everyday struggles which plainly being human and growing up bring with them.

 Counselling for children is effective with:

Divorce or separation

Death of a loved one

Trauma

Bullying

Sexual abuse

Emotional abuse

Physical abuse

Family or child relocation

Substance abuse or addiction in the family

Mental illnesses, like depression, anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive disorder

 The above indications can lead to a variety of issues, such as:

Persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness

Constant anger and a tendency to overreact to situations

Preoccupation with physical illness or their own appearance

An inability to concentrate, think clearly or make decisions

An inability to sit still

Diets or binging behaviour

Violent acts

Unwarranted aggression

Incontinence

Difficulty adjusting to social situations

Frequent nightmares and sleep difficulties

A sudden drop in grades at school

Persistent worry and anxiety

Withdrawing from activities they normally enjoy

Loss of appetite or dramatic weight loss/gain

Performing obsessive routines like hand washing

Expressing thoughts of suicide

Social isolation and wanting to be alone

Alcohol or drug use

Increased physical complaints despite a normal, healthy physician’s report

Self-harm such as cutting

 Apart from situation-specific goals, child counselling focuses on:

Building the child’s self-esteem

Helping to improve the child’s communication skills

Stimulating healthy, normal development

Building an appropriate emotional repertoire

Improving the child’s emotional vocabulary

 I aim to offer a safe space and an empathetic ear while providing tools to help facilitate change in thoughts, feelings, and behaviours. I help the child focus on resolving conflict, understanding their own thoughts and feelings, and thinking of new solutions to their daily problems, and help them understand what is happening and that they are not alone.

 If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact me on +34 722 287 111 or sonja.lowicki@gmail.com, or visit my Facebook page Corazón y Mente Counselling.

I'm looking forward to hearing from you and working with you and your child!