Tuning Into Kids/Teens
About
Emotional Competency
Emotional intelligence, otherwise known as emotional competency, is one of life’s most fundamental skills. The ability to efficiently understand, communicate, and regulate one’s own emotions, as well as understand, interpret, and interact with others’ emotions is often associated with better life outcomes.
Emotional development begins early in childhood and is fostered (or hindered) by the types of social interactions experienced during this developmental stage. Parents play a vital role in the shaping and teaching of emotion-based skills in their children.
Parent’s influence their children through several means, including their modelled emotional expression and regulation, their reactions to their child’s emotions, and how they discuss and teach emotions with their children.
However, not all parenting styles lead to good emotional intelligence in children. Tuning Into Kids/Teens aims to provide parents with the knowledge and skills to foster emotional competence within their children.
To achieve this, Tuning Into Kids teaches parents;
• Skills in assisting children to verbally label their emotions,
• Awareness and regulation of their own emotions,
• Awareness of their children’s emotions,
• To view children’s emotional experiences as an opportunity to teach emotion competence skills,
• To understand the impact of emotionally dismissive versus emotion coaching parenting styles,
• To guide children’s behaviour with appropriate limits, and
• To practise appropriate self-care in order to better undertake the role of parent
Ultimately, developing these skills leads to improved emotional, social, and behavioural functioning in children.
This program consists of 8 1 – 1.5 hour group sessions. It is supplemented by video content, handouts, and other resources. This program is suitable parents and caregivers from a diverse range of situations and family dynamics. 1 – 2 bimonthly booster sessions are also available