This overview is presented by Dr. Marc Brackett, Director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence. He asserts that how we feel and how we are dealing with our feelings are frequently out of balance. The presentation suggests that we must start with giving ourselves permission to feel, including learning the science of emotion and emotional intelligence.

Emotions are highly significant in the learning process, including having a major impact on the following: attention, memory, and learning; decision-making; relationship quality; physical and mental health; and performance and creativity. Dr. Bracket encourages us to be “emotion scientists,” accepting our emotions as information in order to develop a growth mindset.

He presents steps for dealing with our emotions and feelings, including “RULER skills,” i.e., recognizing emotions in self and others, understanding causes and consequences of emotions, labeling emotions accurately, expressing emotions, and regulating emotions effectively.