What are the best ways to develop emotional intelligence as a Peer Support leader?

Assessing your capacity to guide your thoughts and emotions, rather than being controlled by them, empowers you to navigate life's challenges with greater composure. Recognize that your brain serves you, allowing you to master the art of graceful control over impulsive reactions, fostering mindful and regret-free interactions. This self-awareness is pivotal in shaping your behavior towards both yourself and others.

La Pleine Conscience contribue au développement de l'intelligence émotionnelle. Au travers d'une série de techniques alliant corps-esprit et focalisation sur le moment présent, la personne apprend à reconna?tre ce qui se passe en elle dans l'instant : pensées, émotions et sensations. La Pleine Conscience favorise la connexion à soi sans jugement. Cette pratique associée à l'apprentissage de ressources corporelles (mouvements intentionnels, respiration ventrale, ancrage, sensation agréable) permet de réduire le stress, de mieux gérer ses émotions et de favoriser l'auto-regulation interne. Les techniques proposées peuvent être adaptées à la personne, à ses spécificités et à la situation du moment pour une meilleure efficacité.

Embrace your thoughts and emotions with open arms, filtering them through the lens of unconditional love and compassion. Engage in this joyful practice, finding peace as you acknowledge the origin of each thought and emotion. This mindful approach not only promotes healing but also proactively soothes the fight-or-flight region of your brain, fostering eloquence and love in your mental landscape.

Learning from colleagues with high emotional intelligence (EI) significantly enhances social awareness in my Peer Support role. Attending office hours and joking in professional groups create a conducive environment for observing and emulating effective communication, empathy, and collaboration. Seeking advice from those with high EI not only broadens my emotional skills but also fosters a supportive workplace dynamic. This approach aligns seamlessly with the collaborative nature of Peer Support, enhancing relationship management and overall effectiveness.

Feedback is very important in the sense that it gives you the opportunity to learn on what others have to say about you. For easier use maybe adopt the Johari window model ?? as a reference point for seeking review.

If seeking feedback feels intimidating, you might start be asking someone you trust to engage in some mutual reflection about how you can grow. Once you start feeling more comfortable with receiving feedback, you can build up to regular check-ins with supervisors, mentors, and other peers.

When faced with discomfort like a headache or stomach ache, engage in a compassionate dialogue with your body. Express appreciation, offer blessings, and joyfully massage the affected areas, infusing them with unconditional love. Embracing your pain points in this proactive and peaceful manner creates a healing environment, allowing you to address and soothe these physical challenges with mindful care.

Always have an emotional formula to perform your tasks. Understand that there will be difficulties, however don’t let that hinder your progression. There are many obstacles that you will face so understanding your journey is vital to help others. There is a lack of EI in some people, you have to be patient.

Journaling is often an effective way to process and reflect. Journal about your peer support experiences but also about your own experiences in life. Processing your own experiences (positive and negative) makes mental space for engaging on a deeper level with others, making you better able to provide a safe space for others to process their challenging experiences.

Get a therapist that you can see from time to time. Discover how to identify and express your feelings. Model this behavior. Lead by example.

1. Active Listening: Practice attentive and empathetic listening to understand peers’ emotions. 2. Empathy: Put yourself in others’ shoes to comprehend and share their feelings. 3. Self-awareness: Reflect on your emotions, strengths, and areas for improvement. Through active listening, profound empathy, and continuous self-awareness, leaders can create an environment where team members feel truly understood. This depth of emotional intelligence not only strengthens interpersonal relationships but also contributes significantly to the team’s overall well-being and success.

Embrace diverse thoughts and emotions with a loving, non-judgmental attitude. Request healing energy for yourself, the thoughts, emotions, and the situations that triggered them. Approach each moment with proactive, unconditional love, and compassion, fostering a harmonious relationship with your inner world and the external circumstances influencing your thoughts and emotions.

Learn more about trauma and any topics you're particularly interested in peer supporting for (e.g. LGBT-related issues, race discrimination, different mental illnesses, grief, complex PTSD etc). Be aware of the gaps in your knowledge and understanding. You don't have to know everything and pretending to know everything can be harmful. Treat the person and their experience from a blank slate perspective and avoid imposing your own understanding on them. There's sometimes a balancing act here between knowing enough to help make sense of things and retaining humility to avoid patronising or stifling the other person.