Marc Brackett, Ph.D., psychologist and best-selling author of Permission to Feel is the guest speaker for Forty Carrots Family Center’s 18th annual free Educational Community Speaker Event. This year’s event transitions to a virtual platform, broadcasting at 7pm on Wednesday, September 23rd. Advance registration is required and opens August 1, 2020 at www.FortyCarrots.org.

SRQ Magazine Executive Publisher Wes Roberts interviewed Dr. Brackett about the ideas presented in his book, Permission to Feel, for the September/October edition. Below is an excerpt from that forthcoming interview.

Wes Roberts: "Emotional intelligence," how is it more than an academic concept?

Marc Brackett: How we feel matters. It matters for everything in life; our ability to learn, the quality of our decisions, the quality of our relationships, our mental and physical health, our creativity, and our everyday performance. When people understand the intersection between our emotion system and our other systems, then it's hard not to take this work seriously. We defined emotional intelligence as a set of skills that involve recognizing our own and others' emotions, understanding their causes and consequences, labeling them with the precise words, knowing how and when to express feelings, and then regulating them effectively to achieve goals.

Roberts: How about the microscopic elephant in the room, which is COVID-19, and the lockdown. Will the effect time and in its impact on kids, parents, and society echo into the future?

Brackett: I think we have to take this stuff seriously right now because it is a hard time. One thing we say is that "when life is good, nobody cares about emotional intelligence," you know, if you've got a good job, your kids are healthy, you're healthy, you're on vacation, whatever it might be, they don't think about it because life is good. But, you know, when you're on the beach, and someone kicks sand in your face, that's when you need these skills. Especially when we're activated when we're triggered. And right now, I think everyone is triggered. This is when we have to really apply the skills of emotional intelligence to achieve our goals.

Click here to register.