Cognition: Emotional Intelligence (EI)

Image courtesy of http://www.slideshare.net/chadimohammed/inspiring-students-through-emotional-intelligence

I work in a field where communication, empathy and emotional regulation are paramount. In rehabilitation therapy you may be working in a hospital, rehab facility or an extended care home and no matter what your area you must be able to create rapport and trust with your clients, pick up cues that are non verbal, and be able to read emotions and understand how those emotions might be affecting your client and how their treatment is going to go that day. All of these skills can be categorized as emotional intelligence and in most cases these skills are just as important as being able to carry out the prescribed exercises with the client in a class, gym or one-on-one session. 

Although I have just talked about my personal opinion of which profession EI is important in I want to emphasize that it is becoming more and more well known that EI is an asset in any work place and indeed many professions are starting to seek out EI traits in their applicants more often than the "hard skills" required to do the jobs that they are applying for.

In this article from MindTools.com about "Emotional Intelligence" you will get a great idea of what it is and an introduction to Daniel Goleman's 5 characteristics of EI. The main point of the article however, is that EI can be developed and there are some great tips on how to help yourself grow in EI. I think that as instructors we have an opportunity to help our students grow in EI as well and I plan to use the tips listed in the article above to come up with some ways in which to incorporate them in to my classes.