Robert O'Shea
"There is little doubt helpers must possess this emotional intelligence in the same way an engineer must have the intellectual ability to understand higher mathematics." (Young, 2017). This quote helps display how beneficial emotional intelligence can be and how we must understand its meaning. Young (2017) goes on to discuss emotional intelligence and how it is about ones ability to monitor ones emotions and the emotions of others. This will help us greatly in counseling for if we are aware of our own ability to utilize this asset it can be of great help to the counselor. This is why it would be beneficial for counselors to seek getting their emotional intelligence tested, for which there are centers. This would help me the counselor aware of where they stand on this skill.
As Shaheena Parveen and M. Shafiq (2014) state "It has been found, for example, that emotinal intelligence factors successfully predict counseling self-efficiency of both counseling students and practicing counselors."(Parveen and Shafiq, 2014). This statement captures just how beneficial high emotional intelligence can be for a counselor. This is another reason every prospective counselors should get tested for this attribute as it can give the counselor a heightened sense of confidence upon entering the field.
In an article by Daniel Guiterrez and Patrick Mullen (2016) they state "This article describes a correlational investigation that examined the relationship of practicing mental health counselors and marriage and family counselors to their degree of burnout." (Guiterrez and Mullen, 2016). This article goes on to discuss this study showing a correlation between high emotional intelligence and less burnout. This study makes clear however that a lower emotional intelligence in now way implies you will burnout, just states a slight edge goes to those with a higher emotional intelligence.
References
Parveen, S., & Shafiq, M. (2014). Emotional Intelligence: Implications for counseling and psychotherapy. Indian journal of posotive psychology.
Guiterrez, D., & Mullen, P. (2016). Emotional intelligence and the counselor: Examining the relationship of trait emotional intelligence and counselor burnout.
Intelligence. Photogrphy. Britannica ImageQuest, Encyclopedia Britannica, 25 May 2016. quest.eb.com/search/139_2011706/1/1392011706/cite
Emotional intelligence is absolutely a critical skill in counseling. Without the ability to recognize what our clients are feeling, the counseling process will certainly stagnate. Also, it was interesting to learn that higher emotional intelligence is correlated to less burnout. Emotional intelligence is definitely something counselors must continue to improve if further professional competence is to be heightened and the chance of burnout is to be lowered.
ReplyDeleteRob, I enjoyed reading your post because I didn't think much about emotional intelligence. I can see how monitoring one's emotions and the emotions of others are essential in a counseling session. This requires a degree of self-awareness as one may be working with a particularly difficult client or a specific case which could elicit strong emotions within oneself. Furthermore, I'm really curious about getting my emotional intelligence tested, and I think that would be beneficial for all future counselors as well. I didn't know there was a correlation between emotional intelligence and burnout rate either.
ReplyDeleteRob,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post on emotional intelligence. I also believe this is a crucial topic counselors must focus on. I found it very interesting to read about the findings of one the studies you found regarding the correlation between emotional intelligence and burnout. It does appear to make sense that having high emotional intelligence would lead to less chance of burnout. In order to be an effective counselor, I know it is imperative for me to understand how to monitor my emotions and the emotions of others. Being aware of the emotions of others allows us the opportunity to extend sensitivity and compassion towards the way our clients are feeling. I agree that having emotional intelligence, the ability to identify and manage our own emotions and the emotions of others, is particularly important in the field of counseling.
Kaitlin Troutman