Blog on Empathy and Emotions | Karla McLaren

The gifts of contentment: Appreciation and recognition

Welcoming contentment! (Excerpt from The Language of Emotions): Happiness tends to anticipate a bright future, while contentment tends to arise after an inner achievement. Contentment arises when you’re living up to your own expectations and your internal moral code, and when you’ve accomplished an important goal or done your work well and properly. When it’s working well, your contentment comes forward in response to tangible actions … Read More

The gifts of happiness!

Happiness helps you look outward (or forward to the future) with hope and delight! As I’ve been posting about the emotions one by one, you may have noticed that when I talk about emotions, I almost never start with the happiness-based emotions. It’s not that I don’t like happiness; I do! It’s that the three different types of happiness I identify in my work — happiness, … Read More

Course: Welcoming Your Emotions Home

Identifying and Accepting Your Emotions Online course starts Monday, June 19 at Empathy Academy Though most of us have been chased away from our emotions (or taught very unhelpful things about them), our emotions are vital aspects of everything we do, everything we think, every action we take, and everything we are. And if we don’t have full access to our emotions — if we don’t … Read More

Free Emotions Charts for Kids!

Hello emotional kids and parents! (That’s all of us, you know.) Emotions are at the center of all learning, thinking, and behavior, and you can learn how to work with them skillfully. Kids especially love learning about their emotions, and we’ve made a 2-page chart for kids that helps kids understand exactly what their emotions do and what gifts and skills they contain. This kids’ chart … Read More

Praise for the new Language of Emotions!

As the publication date for the new and revised edition of The Language of Emotions nears, I want to share some of the praise the book has received from two people I admire very much. Gavin DeBecker “The Language of Emotions has changed the way I relate to others, and to myself, forever.” Gavin DeBecker, author of The Gift of Fear and Protecting the Gift Gavin is a security expert who … Read More

The Myth of Positive Emotions

The Myth of Positive Emotions is of course related to The Myth of Negative Emotions In my work with emotions, I don’t treat any emotion as better or worse than any other. Instead, I focus on why each emotion arises, what job it does, and how you can work with each and every emotion you have. When you can see your emotions as important parts of … Read More

Let’s talk about suicide

The Darkness before Dawn: Understanding the Suicidal Urge Suicidal feelings are painful but normal responses to deep pain and deep trouble — and people survive their suicidal urges every day, and go on to live and thrive. If you or anyone you know feels suicidal, there are some excellent free resources that can help. First, here in the US, you can contact the 988 Suicide & … Read More

The Myth of Negative Emotions

The Myth of Negative Emotions is of course related to The Myth of Positive Emotions In my work with emotions, I focus on the intelligence, gifts, and skills that every emotion brings to you. I don’t leave any emotions out, and I don’t treat any emotion as better or worse than any other. This unified approach to emotions treats all emotions as vital, irreplaceable aspects of … Read More

For Mother’s Day

How Do We Celebrate Our Mothers? A real-world poem for Mother’s Day How do we celebrate our mothers — The ones who are here and the ones who aren’t? The ones who gave their lives for us, And the ones who walked away. The ones who lovingly directed our lives as if we were art projects, And the ones who never knew how to welcome us … Read More

Free Emotions Chart for Adults!

Hello, Emotional People! That’s all of us, you know. Emotions are vital to everything we think, every idea we have, and everything we do. But most of us haven’t learned how to work skillfully with all of our emotions. Luckily, we can learn to work well with our emotions at any stage of our lives. One of our licensed Dynamic Emotional Integration® professionals, Jennifer Asdorian, created … Read More

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