Search Results for language of emotions

Your judgments have value and purpose When I grew up in spiritual groups, I was taught that judgment was forbidden, and wow, was that a colossal mistake. This no-judgment rule is still infecting a lot of communities, however, so it’s worth looking at again. This essay is from my 2010 book The Language of Emotions. When I refer to judgment, I refer to your capacity to … Read More

Emotions and Empathy Are Your Natural Language Hello and welcome! If you’re looking for clear and useful information about emotions and empathy, you’ve come to the right place. See our Start Here page. Author and researcher Karla McLaren. M.Ed. is an emotions and empathy expert, and she’s the developer of the EmpathyAcademy.org learning site, where you can learn robust emotional skills and healthy empathy in a … Read More

My newest book is here! I am so pleased to present my newest book, Embracing Anxiety: How to Access the Genius of This Vital Emotion!     When I wrote my book, The Language of Emotions, way back in 2009, I didn’t understand anxiety well at all. I mistakenly saw it as a problem, but I’m not alone in making that mistake! As I did my … Read More

Your emotional vocabulary matters! A better emotional vocabulary — all by itself — can help you develop better emotional skills! Researchers are finding that a better emotional vocabulary can help you identify, work with, and regulate your emotions. A rich vocabulary helps you understand yourself and the world around you, and it helps you understand what you’re feeling when an emotion arises. We’ve all seen that … Read More

How does anger work? In my work with emotions, I identify what’s happening when people feel specific emotions. For instance, when we say we’re angry, what is occurring? What are the situations that call forth an anger response and how does the anger address what’s happening? How does anger support or impede us, and what is anger’s purpose? Over the decades, I’ve asked that question of … Read More

Hello and welcome! There are second acts in American lives. This is the story of mine. In 2003, I made a massive change and ended my psychic healing career so that I could return to college and study the social sciences. At that time, I pulled all of the books I controlled out of print (the wonderful people at Sounds True followed suit, because they cared … Read More

This portable Art of Empathy card deck was created by Karla McLaren to help you work brilliantly with empathy and emotions. These 28 cards (plus a special fold-out Emotional Vocabulary List) offer detailed insights into Karla’s Six Essential Aspects of Empathy model, plus targeted skills and practices that will help you develop healthy and sustainable empathy.

This set also includes 5 Empathic Communication skills, 8 Empathic Mindfulness practices, and 5 special 2-sided cards to help you work with emotions in others — so that your empathy will emotionally intelligent, skillful, and supportive for everyone.

The Language of Emotions has changed the way I relate to others, and to myself, forever.

Where do we go from here? We are in a new and deeply troubling world, where pundits, writers, philosophers, social scientists, and spiritual leaders are churning out endless opinion pieces about how we got here. We’ve all been consuming these opinions, and that’s a natural response. But I don’t know if it’s helping us regulate and ground ourselves. I want to focus on the current emotional … Read More

When people think of empathy, they tend to see it as a soft skill — as a yielding and pleasing kind of behavior. They think: If you listen to me and agree with me and make me feel good, that’s empathy. If you fix my problems and soothe everything, that’s empathy. Empathy equals niceness. But there’s actually a deeper form of empathy that transcends mere niceness … Read More