Teach Me How to Feel! Enhancing the Emotional Intelligence for At-Risk Youth and Children

Format

Individual Presentation

Location

Sloane

Strand #1

Social & Emotional Skills

Strand #2

Family & Community

Relevance

This presentation is designed to address the social emotional strand as well as the fifth strand of family and community support. This presentation will provide an overview to families, educators, community providers and other helping professionals of effective ways to enhance the emotional intelligence of a child. The presentation will also focus on practice elements and techniques of building the emotional intelligence of youth and children at school settings, community settings and home.

Brief Program Description

The presentation is geared to teach, inform and encourage others to invest in building a child/youth’s emotional intelligence. This presentation will explore the various facets and intersectionalities (i.e. SES, race, gender, sexual orientation, etc.) that impact the child’s emotional intelligence. The presentation will examine both the micro and the mezzo systems as it relates to shaping a child’s emotional intelligence. It will look at the role of non-family and other primary caregivers in modeling adaptive ways to express emotions and skills. It will examine the role of attachment theory and resiliency theory as it relates to school and community settings.

Summary

The “take home” learning objectives are as follows: 1) Participants will learn what is Emotional Intelligence 2) Participants will gain and understanding for how the emotional intelligence is built and strengthen across multiple settings 3) Participants will learn how emotional intelligence relates to self-esteem, self-regulation and adaptive ways of coping. 4) Participants will also examine stigmas, stereotypes and cultural beliefs about male children not expressing their emotions 5) Participants will be able to identify ways to increase and enhance the emotional intelligence of the black male child throughout development. Objective 1 Topic area: Define Emotional Intelligence. What are emotions? (Identify feelings, etc.) Objective 2 Topic area: How to build a youth/child’s emotional intelligence. Examining the feedback from different systems that the child interacts with on a daily basis. Objective 3 Topic area: How does Emotional Intelligence relate to Self-Regulation, Self-Esteem and Coping with challenge in life. Taking a deeper look at the interplay between the triad and also what the community/environments tells the male child about emotions. Objective 4 Topic area: Reflection on your own emotional development/intelligence. Looking at what key factors/figures played a role in shaping and forming your emotional intelligence throughout your childhood, adolescents and adulthood. Objective 5 Topic area: How to cultivate emotional intelligence in children. Taking a closer look at the individual child improving not just their cognitive, physical but also emotional intelligence.

Evidence

The research is beginning to demonstrate what many educators, counselors, parents, and other observers had long recognized – that the most successful people were not necessarily those with high IQs but rather those with highly developed interpersonal and social skills. Today many prominent psychologists and researchers agree EQ is an intelligence that is separate from cognitive intelligence (IQ) and has components that are different from traditional measures of personality. There were several pioneers who have helped raise this awareness. Peter Salovey is a dean and professor of psychology at Yale University. Jack Mayer is a professor at the University of New Hampshire. The two psychologists published the first academic definition of emotional intelligence in 1990, and have continued as the leading researchers in the field. Reuven BarOn, a psychologist and researcher at University of Texas Medical Branch, is another pioneer in the field. He created the first validated measure of "emotionally intelligent behavior," the EQ-i.7 Other leading researchers in this area include Joseph LeDoux, Antonio Damasio, and educators such as Karen McCown, Anabel Jensen, and Maurice Elias. One of the newest tools is called the “Six Seconds Emotional Intelligence Assessment-Youth Version,” or “SEI-YV.”8 The SEI-YV is unique because it provides a link between EQ skills and life outcomes (such as academic achievement and health). Moreover it offers an actionable model to improve. Emotional intelligence is not, in itself, sufficient to create optimal outcomes for youth. However, the way emotional intelligence is used, both by youth and those who support them has a powerful effect on the children’s lives, yet it is frequently ignored. Emotional intelligence appears to be a core ingredient that, when developed and well employed, has wide-ranging benefits for learning, relationships, and wellness. References: Bar-On, R. (1997). The Bar-On Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i). Toronto: Multi-Health Systems. Greenbert, M.T., Weissberg, R.P., O’Brien, M.U., Zins J.E., Fredericks, L., Resnick,H., & Elias, M.J. (2003). “Enhancing school-based prevention and youth development through coordinated social, emotional, and academic learning,” AmericanPsychologist 58 (6/7), 466-474. Jensen, A. & Fieldeldey-van Dijk, C. (2007). Six Seconds Emotional IntelligenceAssessment – Youth Version (SEI-YV). San Francisco: Six Seconds. Mayer, J. D., & Salovey, P. (1997). “What is emotional intelligence?” In Salovey, P. &Sluyter, D. (Eds.), Emotional development and emotional intelligence: Implications for educators (pp. 3-31). New York: Basic Books.

Biographical Sketch

Allen Lipscomb is a licensed clinical social worker in the state of California. Allen Lipscomb has two bachelor’s degrees one in psychology and one in black studies from the University of California Santa Barbara. In addition, he also has his master’s degree in social work from the University of Southern California and he is currently working on his doctorate in clinical psychology. Allen is a faculty member at the University of Southern California School of Social Work. He is also an adjunct faculty at California State University Northridge in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences. He teaches courses in social work and sociology. In addition he has a private practice in Montclair California where he works with children, adolescents, families and couples.

Allen Lipscomb has extensive experience providing mental health and clinical services to children, youth and families in South Los Angeles and the greater Los Angeles area. He has worked in school settings K-12 for the past ten years.

Keyword Descriptors

Emotional Skills, Resiliency

Presentation Year

2015

Start Date

3-4-2015 9:45 AM

End Date

3-4-2015 11:00 AM

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Mar 4th, 9:45 AM Mar 4th, 11:00 AM

Teach Me How to Feel! Enhancing the Emotional Intelligence for At-Risk Youth and Children

Sloane

The presentation is geared to teach, inform and encourage others to invest in building a child/youth’s emotional intelligence. This presentation will explore the various facets and intersectionalities (i.e. SES, race, gender, sexual orientation, etc.) that impact the child’s emotional intelligence. The presentation will examine both the micro and the mezzo systems as it relates to shaping a child’s emotional intelligence. It will look at the role of non-family and other primary caregivers in modeling adaptive ways to express emotions and skills. It will examine the role of attachment theory and resiliency theory as it relates to school and community settings.