Valuing Emotional Intensity

01/29/2008

Hope is a state of mind, not of the world. Hope, in this deep and powerful sense, is not the same as joy that things are going well, or willingness to invest in enterprises that are obviously heading for success, but rather an ability to work for something because it is good.
Vaclav Havel

Linda Gilkerson, in her May 1998 Exchange article "Brain Care: Supporting Healthy Emotional Development" relates that brain research informs us that we should value, not avoid, children's emotional intensity...

"If emotions amplify experience, then strong emotions, whether negative or positive, are like bright beacons showing you the child's inner world. Help staff embrace strong emotions rather than flee from them. For a child, having someone stay emotionally connected, especially during negative emotions, conveys that these strong feelings can be tolerated and survived, by both child and adult. The same is true for staff. Let regular supervision times provide a safe place where staff can recognize the best and the worst of their feelings and capabilities with a partner who helps them get where they need to go."

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"Brain Care" is one of the Exchange articles in the "Brain Research Implications for Early Childhood" set up. You can read articles to qualify for a CEU from the University of Wisconsin-Stout. To learn how you can do this, check out Exchange's new CEU program.

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