The Power of the Feeling Wheel

"Most middle schools and high schools do not have a requirement to teach Social Emotional Learning; therefore, most high school students have less than two years of SEL learning, which was given to them when they were three and four years old. The result is that most adults do not have formal social and emotional learning skills, and yet they are expected to have emotional intelligence."

"While this is a disservice to children and adults, Social Emotional Learning can be taught by us, as the counselors and therapists in our clients' lives. With the understanding that parallel processing affects our clients and then their families and then their communities, we can take peace in knowing that if we intentionally teach social emotional skills to our clients, there will be a ripple effect in the larger community."

"Through the definition of emotional intelligence by Daniel Goleman, it is important for clients to recognize, understand, and manage their feelings while perceiving, processing, and understanding the feelings of others. Both functions of the definition require identification and awareness of emotions."

Social Emotional Learning began circulating in northeastern U.S. school districts in 1994, but adoption remained limited until recently. Currently, all 50 states incorporate SEL into preschool education only, leaving most middle and high school students with minimal formal training in these skills. Consequently, most adults lack formal social and emotional learning despite societal expectations for emotional intelligence. Counselors and therapists can address this gap by intentionally teaching social emotional skills to clients. Through parallel processing, these interventions create ripple effects extending from individual clients to their families and communities. Emotional intelligence, as defined by Daniel Goleman, requires clients to recognize, understand, and manage their own feelings while perceiving and understanding others' emotions.

Read at Psychology Today