Book Nook: The EQ Intervention - Shaping a Self-Aware Generation Through Social and Emotional Learning

Acts of violence are on the rise in our schools, and the knee-jerk reaction is to increase physical security — even to the point of arming teachers — and essentially turn our schools into fortresses. Increased physical security may be helpful (and may offer some peace of mind), but research validates a more inside-out approach to school safety: emotional intelligence.  

"When students are able to identify and manage their feelings, and when they feel connected to those around them, not only are they less likely to resort to violence to express their emotions, but they are also more likely to develop healthy social bonds and to attain higher levels of academic achievement,” says licensed psychologist Dr. Adam Sáenz.

In The EQ Intervention: Shaping a Self-Aware Generation Through Social and Emotional Learning, Dr. Sáenz explores the world of emotional intelligence, establishing the framework that he and his clinical team have used to empower educators, students, parents, elite athletes and business executives with the psychological skillset necessary to not just survive, but to actually thrive amid the stressful demands of daily living.  

With his research team, Dr. Sáenz has developed a psychological measure of personality and emotional intelligence: the Educator Assessment of Social and Emotional Learning (EASEL).  Dr. Sáenz has used EASEL data to lead educators, students, athletes, parents and business executives to increase their understanding of themselves and to most effectively harness the power of their emotions; this is the well-researched process that leads to peak performance.  

Unlike IQ, which remains relatively stable over the course of one's lifespan, EQ — emotional quotient — can be developed and increased with proper training. The EQ Intervention provides actual clinical case studies that illustrate the process of increasing emotional intelligence and the gain in critical life skills that result. 

Directed toward post-secondary educators, administrators, counselors, school psychologists, special education teachers and educational directors, The EQ Intervention is the first step toward building a groundswell of emotional intelligence development that could one day lead to safer school environments for all children.

Author Adam Sáenz course-corrected his life path from juvenile detention and drug usage to two doctorates with training at Harvard Medical School and Oxford University thanks to two inspirational teachers who saw something in him that he didn't see in himself. What he learned through his experience is that whether we are searching for a reason to believe or we just need a hope-filled reminder, the tremendous power to make a difference in our world exists within all of us. Through his messages and clinical work, Dr. Sáenz hopes to compel others to engage their callings with passion, with purpose and with vision.  As a licensed psychologist, Dr. Sáenz conducts workshops across the country in the areas of stress management, the dynamics of effective relationship and team-building, and emotionally intelligent leadership. He resides in Texas.

For more information, visit www.adamSáenz.com, or follow him on Twitter at @AdamSáenzPhD