{"id":82829,"date":"2025-01-29T08:57:00","date_gmt":"2025-01-29T14:57:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.success.com\/?p=82829"},"modified":"2025-01-06T12:05:59","modified_gmt":"2025-01-06T18:05:59","slug":"marc-brackett-emotional-intelligence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.success.com\/marc-brackett-emotional-intelligence\/","title":{"rendered":"Learning To Feel: Marc Brackett\u2019s Approach to Emotional Intelligence for Kids"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Marc Brackett, Ph.D., is a professor at the Child Study Center at Yale University and the founding director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence (YCEI)<\/a>. The YCEI conducts research on the science of emotions and emotional intelligence and develops ways to teach these skills to children and adults. Since it was founded in 2013, the YCEI has helped over 5 million children in over 5,000 schools worldwide develop their emotional intelligence skills. Success+ talked with Brackett about the YCEI and emotional intelligence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

S+<\/strong>: <\/strong>What is the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MB<\/strong>: The YCEI is a group of about 50 people who do two things. We research the science of emotions and the skills of emotional intelligence<\/a>, and we develop innovative approaches to teaching emotional intelligence to children and adults who are raising and teaching them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

S+<\/strong>: How does the YCEI define emotional intelligence?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MB<\/strong>: We use an acronym, which is RULER\u2026 to describe the skills. And those are: R<\/strong>ecognizing emotions in oneself and other people; U<\/strong>nderstanding our own and others\u2019 causes of emotion (what makes us feel the way we do); L<\/strong>abeling emotions precisely, using the best possible word to describe our experiences; [and] knowing how and when to E<\/strong>xpress emotions with different people across context and culture. Finally, the last \u201cR\u201d is R<\/strong>egulation, or the strategies that we use to help us both manage our own feelings [and] help other people manage [their own].<\/p>\n\n\n\n

S+<\/strong>: How did the YCEI get started, and why is this work important to you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MB<\/strong>: I thought it was necessary to have a place at a university that both studied the power of emotional intelligence [and] also translated that into actionable practices for leaders, teachers, students and families. I felt it was important to keep those two things together\u2014that we were in the real world, looking at how people would implement this. We\u2019re also doing the science and letting the science inform the practice and the practice inform the science.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was very fortunate in my career. I got my doctorate degree with one founder of a theory of emotional intelligence<\/a>. His name is Jack Mayer. Then I did my postdoctoral fellowship with the other founder of emotional intelligence theory, Peter Salovey, who became president of Yale. In 2013, when Peter became president of the university, we spoke about converting the laboratory that he was directing and I was helping to direct\u2026 into a center of the university to really showcase the university\u2019s commitment to the science and practice of emotional intelligence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s amazing is that since that time, we have now worked with over 5,000 schools across the globe. RULER, which is also the name of our program, is now in schools across the United States. And we actually have schools in over 25 countries around the world that have adopted this model. I\u2019m proud to say that we have impacted the lives of well over 5 million children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

S+<\/strong>: What are some of the most important discoveries around emotional intelligence<\/a> you\u2019ve made within the YCEI?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MB<\/strong>: I think the first is that we stand firm that these are real skills that have to be developed in relationship with other people\u2014meaning that our emotion system is co-created through the people that we associate with. And so, helping people to build quality relationships, to learn about their own and other people\u2019s emotions, to have the words to describe those emotions is something that needs to be cultivated and developed. That\u2019s really kind of core to our work. And the same thing with emotion regulation. Oftentimes, people think, \u201cOh my gosh. I\u2019m so emotional. I can\u2019t deal with it.\u201d The only reason is that they haven\u2019t learned the skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Practice the skills and refine them over time. It is possible to get better at reading people and also at dealing with your own and other people\u2019s emotions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second is that I felt it was really important to be able to translate all of this scientific work into a program that could be adopted by school systems so that children starting in preschool [can learn] these skills and further develop them across their time in school, from elementary to middle to high school, because these skills [aren\u2019t] one-and-done. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

[For example,] what anger means to me at 5 [years old] is different than at 10 [and] at 15. And so, what we want to do is help children deepen their understanding of these concepts and their skills and understanding them and dealing with them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

S+<\/strong>: What are some of the most vital lessons you want people to know when it comes to emotional intelligence?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MB<\/strong>: The first thing is that the adults who are raising and teaching kids\u2014we\u2019ve shown in research\u2014have not had a very strong education in these concepts. So, when we first started out, we thought we could just have a curriculum to hand over. What we learned over time was that teachers and other counselors and educators and school leaders really wanted an education in these skills so they [could] practice them themselves [and] be better at implementing them right in the classroom. That was a big lesson for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the other products that we\u2019ve created is an app called \u201cHow We Feel\u201d and that app is based on a book I wrote called Permission to Feel<\/em><\/a>. In the app, which is available for free, we provide people with hundreds of emotions and their definitions, as well as dozens of research-based strategies to help them learn how to regulate their emotions and the ability to track their emotions over time so they can look for patterns and gain deeper insights to support greater well-being.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photo by Antonio diaz\/shutterstock.com<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Marc Brackett, Ph.D., is a professor at the Child Study Center at Yale University and the founding director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence (YCEI). The YCEI conducts research on the science of emotions and emotional intelligence and develops ways to teach these skills to children and adults. Since it was founded in 2013, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31710,"featured_media":82830,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"ub_ctt_via":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[14618,14649,14644,14651,14650],"class_list":["post-82829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-personal-development","tag-emotional-intelligence","tag-emotional-intelligence-for-kids","tag-eq","tag-marc-brackett","tag-yale-center-for-emotional-intelligence"],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/www.success.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/SD25_JAN_FOB_INSIDE_LOOK_MARC_BRACKETT.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"Cecilia Meis","author_link":"https:\/\/www.success.com\/author\/joel-swenson\/"},"yoast_head":"\nMarc Bracket\u2019s Approach to Emotional Intelligence | SUCCESS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Marc Brackett, Ph.D., founding director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, discusses his approach to teaching kids emotional intelligence.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Learning To Feel: Marc Brackett\u2019s Approach to Emotional Intelligence for Kids\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Marc Brackett, Ph.D., is a professor at the Child Study Center at Yale University and the founding director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence | SUCCESS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.success.com\/marc-brackett-emotional-intelligence\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"SUCCESS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SUCCESSmagazine\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-01-29T14:57:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.success.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/SD25_JAN_FOB_INSIDE_LOOK_MARC_BRACKETT_social.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Cecilia Meis\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@successmagazine\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@successmagazine\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.success.com\/marc-brackett-emotional-intelligence\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.success.com\/marc-brackett-emotional-intelligence\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Cecilia Meis\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.success.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b3743736d203b518896c896a37579ac4\"},\"headline\":\"Learning To Feel: Marc Brackett\u2019s Approach to Emotional Intelligence for Kids\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-01-29T14:57:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.success.com\/marc-brackett-emotional-intelligence\/\"},\"wordCount\":972,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.success.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.success.com\/marc-brackett-emotional-intelligence\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.success.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/SD25_JAN_FOB_INSIDE_LOOK_MARC_BRACKETT.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"emotional intelligence\",\"emotional intelligence for kids\",\"eq\",\"Marc Brackett\",\"Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Personal Development\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.success.com\/marc-brackett-emotional-intelligence\/#respond\"]}],\"copyrightYear\":\"2025\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.success.com\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.success.com\/marc-brackett-emotional-intelligence\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.success.com\/marc-brackett-emotional-intelligence\/\",\"name\":\"Marc Bracket\u2019s Approach to Emotional Intelligence | SUCCESS\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.success.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.success.com\/marc-brackett-emotional-intelligence\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.success.com\/marc-brackett-emotional-intelligence\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.success.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/SD25_JAN_FOB_INSIDE_LOOK_MARC_BRACKETT.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-01-29T14:57:00+00:00\",\"description\":\"Marc Brackett, Ph.D., founding director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, discusses his approach to teaching kids emotional intelligence.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.success.com\/marc-brackett-emotional-intelligence\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.success.com\/marc-brackett-emotional-intelligence\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.success.com\/marc-brackett-emotional-intelligence\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.success.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/SD25_JAN_FOB_INSIDE_LOOK_MARC_BRACKETT.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.success.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/SD25_JAN_FOB_INSIDE_LOOK_MARC_BRACKETT.jpg\",\"width\":1100,\"height\":733,\"caption\":\"Child and woman engaging in parallel play\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.success.com\/marc-brackett-emotional-intelligence\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.success.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Learning To Feel: Marc Brackett\u2019s Approach to Emotional Intelligence for Kids\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.success.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.success.com\/\",\"name\":\"SUCCESS\",\"description\":\"Your Trusted Guide to the Future of Work\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.success.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.success.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.success.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"SUCCESS\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.success.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.success.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.success.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/success_opengraph_image.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.success.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/success_opengraph_image.png\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":628,\"caption\":\"SUCCESS\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.success.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SUCCESSmagazine\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/successmagazine\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/successmagazine\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/success-magazine\/\",\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/successmagazine\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/successmagazine\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.success.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b3743736d203b518896c896a37579ac4\",\"name\":\"Cecilia Meis\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.success.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/eec7a0da529ef1038b24175947295e8c5fb241b4d57bf2f9b62083b6c2132ab6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/eec7a0da529ef1038b24175947295e8c5fb241b4d57bf2f9b62083b6c2132ab6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Cecilia Meis\"},\"description\":\"Cecilia Meis is the editorial director for\u00a0SUCCESS\u00a0and a digital nomad. She writes about other digital nomads, solopreneurs and the future of work.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.success.com\/author\/joel-swenson\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Marc Bracket\u2019s Approach to Emotional Intelligence | SUCCESS","description":"Marc Brackett, Ph.D., founding director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, discusses his approach to teaching kids emotional intelligence.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Learning To Feel: Marc Brackett\u2019s Approach to Emotional Intelligence for Kids","og_description":"Marc Brackett, Ph.D., is a professor at the Child Study Center at Yale University and the founding director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence | SUCCESS","og_url":"https:\/\/www.success.com\/marc-brackett-emotional-intelligence\/","og_site_name":"SUCCESS","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SUCCESSmagazine\/","article_published_time":"2025-01-29T14:57:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/www.success.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/SD25_JAN_FOB_INSIDE_LOOK_MARC_BRACKETT_social.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Cecilia Meis","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@successmagazine","twitter_site":"@successmagazine","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.success.com\/marc-brackett-emotional-intelligence\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.success.com\/marc-brackett-emotional-intelligence\/"},"author":{"name":"Cecilia Meis","@id":"https:\/\/www.success.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b3743736d203b518896c896a37579ac4"},"headline":"Learning To Feel: Marc Brackett\u2019s Approach to Emotional Intelligence for Kids","datePublished":"2025-01-29T14:57:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.success.com\/marc-brackett-emotional-intelligence\/"},"wordCount":972,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.success.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.success.com\/marc-brackett-emotional-intelligence\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.success.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/SD25_JAN_FOB_INSIDE_LOOK_MARC_BRACKETT.jpg","keywords":["emotional intelligence","emotional intelligence for kids","eq","Marc Brackett","Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence"],"articleSection":["Personal Development"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.success.com\/marc-brackett-emotional-intelligence\/#respond"]}],"copyrightYear":"2025","copyrightHolder":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.success.com\/#organization"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.success.com\/marc-brackett-emotional-intelligence\/","url":"https:\/\/www.success.com\/marc-brackett-emotional-intelligence\/","name":"Marc Bracket\u2019s Approach to Emotional Intelligence | SUCCESS","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.success.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.success.com\/marc-brackett-emotional-intelligence\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.success.com\/marc-brackett-emotional-intelligence\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.success.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/SD25_JAN_FOB_INSIDE_LOOK_MARC_BRACKETT.jpg","datePublished":"2025-01-29T14:57:00+00:00","description":"Marc Brackett, Ph.D., founding director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, discusses his approach to teaching kids emotional intelligence.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.success.com\/marc-brackett-emotional-intelligence\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.success.com\/marc-brackett-emotional-intelligence\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.success.com\/marc-brackett-emotional-intelligence\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.success.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/SD25_JAN_FOB_INSIDE_LOOK_MARC_BRACKETT.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.success.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/SD25_JAN_FOB_INSIDE_LOOK_MARC_BRACKETT.jpg","width":1100,"height":733,"caption":"Child and woman engaging in parallel play"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.success.com\/marc-brackett-emotional-intelligence\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.success.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Learning To Feel: Marc Brackett\u2019s Approach to Emotional Intelligence for Kids"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.success.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.success.com\/","name":"SUCCESS","description":"Your Trusted Guide to the Future of Work","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.success.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.success.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.success.com\/#organization","name":"SUCCESS","url":"https:\/\/www.success.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.success.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.success.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/success_opengraph_image.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.success.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/success_opengraph_image.png","width":1200,"height":628,"caption":"SUCCESS"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.success.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SUCCESSmagazine\/","https:\/\/x.com\/successmagazine","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/successmagazine","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/success-magazine\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/successmagazine","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/successmagazine"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.success.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b3743736d203b518896c896a37579ac4","name":"Cecilia Meis","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.success.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/eec7a0da529ef1038b24175947295e8c5fb241b4d57bf2f9b62083b6c2132ab6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/eec7a0da529ef1038b24175947295e8c5fb241b4d57bf2f9b62083b6c2132ab6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Cecilia Meis"},"description":"Cecilia Meis is the editorial director for\u00a0SUCCESS\u00a0and a digital nomad. She writes about other digital nomads, solopreneurs and the future of work.","url":"https:\/\/www.success.com\/author\/joel-swenson\/"}]}},"meta_data":{"_edit_lock":["1736186887:32516"],"_thumbnail_id":["82830"],"_edit_last":["32516"],"_advads_ad_settings":["a:2:{s:11:\"disable_ads\";i:0;s:19:\"disable_the_content\";i:0;}"],"_molongui_author":["guest-75972"],"_molongui_main_author":["guest-75972"],"enable-for-home-page-all-post-section-set-as-first-image":["false"],"enable-for-home-page-all-post-section":["true"],"enable-for-category-section-in-home-page-set-as-first-image":["false"],"enable-for-category-section-in-home-page":["true"],"feature-video":[""],"select-video":[""],"exclude_from_trending":["false"],"type_access":["article_digimag"],"disc":["i_influence"],"resource_library":["article"],"store_type":[""],"custom_listing_image":[""],"sync":["true"],"_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":["11"],"_yoast_wpseo_focuskw":["Marc Brackett"],"_yoast_wpseo_title":["Marc Bracket\u2019s Approach to Emotional Intelligence | SUCCESS"],"_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":["Marc Brackett, Ph.D., founding director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, discusses his approach to teaching kids emotional intelligence."],"_yoast_wpseo_focuskeywords":[""],"_yoast_wpseo_keywordsynonyms":[""],"_yoast_wpseo_estimated-reading-time-minutes":["5"],"_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-image":["https:\/\/www.success.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/SD25_JAN_FOB_INSIDE_LOOK_MARC_BRACKETT_social-1024x538.jpg"],"_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-image-id":["82831"],"jet_engine_store_count_recently-viewed":["123"],"_yoast_wpseo_linkdex":["69"],"_yoast_wpseo_content_score":["30"],"_yoast_indexnow_last_ping":["1738162636"],"_elementor_page_assets":["a:0:{}"]},"guest_author_field_data":{"main_author_is":"guest","guest_authors":[{"title":"Joel Swenson","slug":"joel-swenson","author_url":"https:\/\/www.success.com\/author\/joel-swenson\/","thumbnail_url":false,"meta_data":{"_molongui_guest_author_display_name":["Joel Swenson"],"_molongui_guest_author_post_count":["3"],"_edit_lock":["1726210771:32485"],"_thumbnail_id":["60968"]}}],"user_authors":[]},"custom_post_content":"<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Marc Brackett, Ph.D., is a professor at the Child Study Center at Yale University and the founding director of the <a href=\"https:\/\/medicine.yale.edu\/childstudy\/services\/community-and-schools-programs\/center-for-emotional-intelligence\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence (YCEI)<\/a>. The YCEI conducts research on the science of emotions and emotional intelligence and develops ways to teach these skills to children and adults. Since it was founded in 2013, the YCEI has helped over 5 million children in over 5,000 schools worldwide develop their emotional intelligence skills. Success+ talked with Brackett about the YCEI and emotional intelligence.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p><strong>S+<\/strong>:<strong> <\/strong>What is the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence?<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p><strong>MB<\/strong>: The YCEI is a group of about 50 people who do two things. We research the science of emotions and the skills of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.success.com\/how-to-improve-emotional-intelligence\/\">emotional intelligence<\/a>, and we develop innovative approaches to teaching emotional intelligence to children and adults who are raising and teaching them.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p><strong>S+<\/strong>: How does the YCEI define emotional intelligence?<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p><strong>MB<\/strong>: We use an acronym, which is RULER\u2026 to describe the skills. And those are: <strong>R<\/strong>ecognizing emotions in oneself and other people; <strong>U<\/strong>nderstanding our own and others\u2019 causes of emotion (what makes us feel the way we do); <strong>L<\/strong>abeling emotions precisely, using the best possible word to describe our experiences; [and] knowing how and when to <strong>E<\/strong>xpress emotions with different people across context and culture. Finally, the last \u201cR\u201d is <strong>R<\/strong>egulation, or the strategies that we use to help us both manage our own feelings [and] help other people manage [their own].<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p><strong>S+<\/strong>: How did the YCEI get started, and why is this work important to you?<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p><strong>MB<\/strong>: I thought it was necessary to have a place at a university that both studied the power of emotional intelligence [and] also translated that into actionable practices for leaders, teachers, students and families. I felt it was important to keep those two things together\u2014that we were in the real world, looking at how people would implement this. We\u2019re also doing the science and letting the science inform the practice and the practice inform the science.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>I was very fortunate in my career. I got my doctorate degree with one founder of a theory of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.success.com\/components-of-emotional-intelligence\/\">emotional intelligence<\/a>. His name is Jack Mayer. Then I did my postdoctoral fellowship with the other founder of emotional intelligence theory, Peter Salovey, who became president of Yale. In 2013, when Peter became president of the university, we spoke about converting the laboratory that he was directing and I was helping to direct\u2026 into a center of the university to really showcase the university\u2019s commitment to the science and practice of emotional intelligence.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>What\u2019s amazing is that since that time, we have now worked with over 5,000 schools across the globe. RULER, which is also the name of our program, is now in schools across the United States. And we actually have schools in over 25 countries around the world that have adopted this model. I\u2019m proud to say that we have impacted the lives of well over 5 million children.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p><strong>S+<\/strong>: What are some of the most important discoveries around <a href=\"https:\/\/www.success.com\/18-signs-you-have-high-emotional-intelligence\/\">emotional intelligence<\/a> you\u2019ve made within the YCEI?<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p><strong>MB<\/strong>: I think the first is that we stand firm that these are real skills that have to be developed in relationship with other people\u2014meaning that our emotion system is co-created through the people that we associate with. And so, helping people to build quality relationships, to learn about their own and other people\u2019s emotions, to have the words to describe those emotions is something that needs to be cultivated and developed. That\u2019s really kind of core to our work. And the same thing with emotion regulation. Oftentimes, people think, \u201cOh my gosh. I\u2019m so emotional. I can\u2019t deal with it.\u201d The only reason is that they haven\u2019t learned the skills.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Practice the skills and refine them over time. It is possible to get better at reading people and also at dealing with your own and other people\u2019s emotions.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>The second is that I felt it was really important to be able to translate all of this scientific work into a program that could be adopted by school systems so that children starting in preschool [can learn] these skills and further develop them across their time in school, from elementary to middle to high school, because these skills [aren\u2019t] one-and-done. <\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>[For example,] what anger means to me at 5 [years old] is different than at 10 [and] at 15. And so, what we want to do is help children deepen their understanding of these concepts and their skills and understanding them and dealing with them.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p><strong>S+<\/strong>: What are some of the most vital lessons you want people to know when it comes to emotional intelligence?<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p><strong>MB<\/strong>: The first thing is that the adults who are raising and teaching kids\u2014we\u2019ve shown in research\u2014have not had a very strong education in these concepts. So, when we first started out, we thought we could just have a curriculum to hand over. What we learned over time was that teachers and other counselors and educators and school leaders really wanted an education in these skills so they [could] practice them themselves [and] be better at implementing them right in the classroom. That was a big lesson for us.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>One of the other products that we\u2019ve created is an app called \u201cHow We Feel\u201d and that app is based on a book I wrote called <a href=\"https:\/\/marcbrackett.com\/permission-to-feel\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>Permission to Feel<\/em><\/a>. In the app, which is available for free, we provide people with hundreds of emotions and their definitions, as well as dozens of research-based strategies to help them learn how to regulate their emotions and the ability to track their emotions over time so they can look for patterns and gain deeper insights to support greater well-being.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph {\"fontSize\":\"small\"} -->\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\"><em>Photo by Antonio diaz\/shutterstock.com<\/em><\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p><\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->","tag_names":["emotional intelligence","emotional intelligence for kids","eq","Marc Brackett","Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence"],"post_attachment_urls":[],"author_email":"cecilia.meis@success.com","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.success.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.success.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.success.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.success.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/31710"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.success.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82829"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.success.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82829\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.success.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/82830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.success.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.success.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.success.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}