Interpret Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence refers to an ability to identify emotions, their implications and
meanings, and how they relate to each other and think and solve problems on the basis of those
emotions (Easton et al., 2008). When counselors go through training, they develop competence.
This is demonstrated through their ability to clarify the message being relayed by the client
through active paraphrasing and encouraging, reflecting on ad observing the client’s feelings,
and summarizing what the client is saying. These empathetic reflections and attending skills aim
to help the client sort out confusing feelings that are linked to situations and other people. One of
the essential requirements of developing natural style and competence as a counselor is an
emotional intelligence and self-understanding. According to Goleman (2005), emotional
intelligence has five main domains, namely self-regulation, self-awareness, social skills,
empathy, and motivation. These domains are similar to the concepts of intrapersonal and
interpersonal intelligence developed by Howard Gardener. The scholar emphasizes the need to
identify one’s intentions, motivations, and feelings, as well as having an ability to discern the
feelings, intentions as well as beliefs of other people (Gardner, 2012). Emotional intelligence is
central to developing competence as a licensed professional counselor, as outlined in this paper.
In many instances, and for many people, emotional intelligence is necessary to achieve
success in one’s career and life in general. Human beings’ ability to succeed often depends on
the ability to read people’s gestures and signals and respond suitably depending on the situation.
Thus, developing emotional intelligence is a key determinant of how well one will go through
different phases in life. When one has emotional intelligence, they understand other people,
things that motivate them, and know how to work with them collaboratively. In the field of
counseling, the importance of developing emotional intelligence is higher. Larson et al. (1992)

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developed a criterion to measure a counselor’s self-efficacy (CSE). The scholar identified five
factors that reflect the confidence of a counselor. These include the ability to behave in a
culturally competent manner, the ability to execute micro-skills, attend to processes, recognize
their own values, and the fifth one is the ability to deal with certain difficult behaviors elicited by
clients. The five factors make up adequate measures of psychometric properties of CSE in an
individual counselor. Thus, developing emotional intelligence as a person in the counseling
career is central to one’s professional success.
Based on the results from the emotional intelligence (EI), the score on emotional
identification, perception, and expression was 67. The results indicate a general possession of
skill related to the fundamental ability to recognize, perceiving, and expressing emotions in
yourself and others. However, a score of 67 is still not good enough as a counselor, and an
improvement and more effort are necessary for anyone aspiring to become a counselor.
However, the skills possessed in EI help in understanding other people, recognizing their
feelings, and accurately understanding one’s emotions. They form a foundation of an ability to
not only identify but also relate to other people’s emotions as well as have self-awareness. EI is
also multifaceted, and one can score differently in different areas. In the test, the score on
emotional management was 80. It reflects a relatively high ability to manage the emotions of
oneself as well as those of others.
Emotional management, reflective regulation, and abilities to perceive and express
emotions are core to the counseling process. A counselor needs these skills to accurately reflect
feelings and establish rapport during counseling. A score of 80 in emotional management shows
great progress in the journey of becoming a counselor. As training continues, more progress will
enhance the ability to use emotions and manage internal and external responses to stimuli.

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Throughout the development process of counselors, they use emotions to facilitate their thinking
process. The ability to effectively use emotional content to inform decisions made during ye
counseling process is very important. Also, it is worth noting that the abilities to analyze,
understand and employ emotions develop continuously throughout a person’s lifespan. As people
grow and mature from children into adults, they acquire a better ability to understand complex
emotional ideas. In the counseling profession, the ability to identify complex emotions in oneself
as well as in others and to effectively apply understanding to emotional content are hallmarks of
one of the most outstanding therapeutic constructs known as empathy. Thus, practicing
counselors must be aware of their own complex mix of emotions and the emotional processes
and content of individual clients. They also must manage the potential transference and
countertransference that these experiences may cause.
Further, research shows that counselor behaviors such as offering insight, self-disclosure,
and the ability to manage personal reactions to clients are indicative of ad informed by higher
levels of emotional intelligence. As such, completing an emotional intelligence test as a
counselor or an aspiring counselor is important. The results help one understand their limitations
and strengths. It then becomes possible for one to work on improving areas where the test results
show require work for better performance. Also, it is worth noting that counselors work with and
help manage anxieties and other such emotional responses among their clients. This occurs
within and between sessions and must be done in a therapeutic manner. A higher emotional
intelligence helps a counselor attend to and effectively address the needs of the client. Therefore,
emotional intelligence is intrinsic to the process of counseling.
A counselor’s understanding of his or her skills and competence to effectively conduct
counseling, also known as counseling self-efficacy. According to the social cognitive model of

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counselor training, which was adopted from Albert Bandura’s social cognitive theory posits that
the learning process of a counselor trainee is jointly influenced by trainee personal agency and
environmental factors and ultimately the performance as a licensed counselor (Barnes, 2004).
Consequently, the performance of a trainee shapes his or her perceptions of personal agency and
the learning environment. CSE is a subjective assessment of a person’s belief r judgment
concerning their abilities and competencies as a counselor. A person with a strong CSE holds
themselves highly as being capable of effective counsel. On the other hand, when the CSE is
weak, then a person has low faith in themselves and does not believe in their abilities to possess
adequate skills to effectively counsel clients. According to Barnes (2004), CSE is the primary
mechanism through which a counselor is able to provide effective counseling. Therefore,
counselor trainees who experience strong CSE are better at incorporating feedback into their
practice, and this becomes better counselors. On the other hand, counselor trainees who do not
possess strong CSE beliefs are incapable of effectively incorporating evaluative feedback into
their practice, and this adversely affects their competence as a counselor. Given the association
between CSE and emotional intelligence, it is important for counselor trainees to work on
improving both as this helps them become competent counselors.
Cross-cultural counseling has become a common practice in counseling, and this has had
a significant influence on theory and practice. Multicultural competence has also increased
among counselors. This has been necessitated by an ever-changing demographic, and counselors
must equip themselves with the necessary skills to deal with clients from different cultural
backgrounds. Emotions are culture-specific as biology and culture have a direct impact on a
person’s emotions. Besides, different cultures hold different expectations on their members in
regard to how they should regulate and display their emotions, as such emotional management is

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affected by a person’s culture. According to Ford and Mauss (2015), emotions are powerful
internal experiences that have the potential to disrupt social harmony. Given this possibility,
counselors must work on their emotional intelligence, specifically on acquiring multicultural
awareness. This will help ensure that even as they work towards identifying and understanding
the emotions of their clients, they also should know how different cultures affect people’s
emotions. Skills are necessary to first relate a person’s culture, and their emotional
responsiveness as this will help counselors in better identifying their clients’ emotions and
understanding them.
Plan for further development
After the results, it is evident that some effort is needed for further growth and
development. As such, the following steps are necessary for better results;

1. Recognize your emotions
   In the process of recognizing emotions, this can be done in two ways;
    Create greater self-awareness. This will be done consciously through practicing
   mindfulness. Mindfulness is critical in the process of achieving emotional awareness.
   This can be achieved through having a daily routine that may incorporate yoga or
   conscious breathing and meditation.
    Another way to recognize emotion is through labeling the feelings. After achieving
   greater emotional awareness, the next step is to label what you feel. Have a label for
   intense emotions. Acknowledging ‘at the moment’ feelings help with the process of
   fleeing feelings. Feelings have a tendency to pass. Feelings are impermanent, and

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labeling feelings helps with the process of letting feelings pass as one gets ready for the
next phase.

2. Understand the feelings
    Identifying feelings and becoming aware of them is a key step towards taking control of
   one’s emotions. This also helps in understanding the emotions of other people and having
   control of the situation, especially in a counseling session.
3. Manage emotions
    This step can be hard. However, the test results already showed great achievement in this
   area. With a score of 80, more can be achieved, but this is a good starting point. The
   process of managing emotions entails rewiring the brain. The trick is in learning how to
   respond as opposed to reacting. Managing one’s emotions is liberating. The power to
   manage emotions is placed in one’s hands, and it always feels nice knowing that you are
   powerful enough to determine how the external surroundings affect you and the
   responses to give. According to Frankl (1985), there is a space that exists between
   stimulus and a person’s response. Space holds our power to choose how and when to
   respond. The way in which we choose to respond holds freedom, and therein lies growth.
   The words of Victor Frankl are powerful, and they show the power that lies in being able
   to manage emotions. Emotional management will take practice. Learning to respond will
   also take time and practice. The aim is to make little and consistent progress. Besides,
   emotional intelligence develops over time through conscious efforts to become better.
   The aim is to get better and work towards achieving higher levels of emotional
   intelligence, as it is necessary when practicing as a counselor.
   Conclusion

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Overall, there exists a relationship between counselor self-efficacy and emotional
intelligence. Different instruments have been developed to help assess the level of emotional
intelligence in students that chose counseling as a career. Such tests are necessary for helping
students identify their level of emotional intelligence, and this provides a basis for either group
or individualized instruction. The instruction can be designed in such a manner that it helps the
student acquire skills and knowledge to further develop their emotional intelligence
competencies that are related to counseling self-efficacy. After taking the emotional intelligence
test, I learned a lot about my abilities in managing emotions. The test also helped me understand
myself better know my abilities in identifying emotions of other people, being aware of my own
emotions and correctly identify them, my ability to manage emotions as well as how to use
emotions to solve problems. Further, I have realized that even as I prepare to become a Licensed
professional counselor, I need foundational skills that will help me in understanding and
interpreting the cognitive as well as affective messages of the clients, and these are directly
related to my level of emotional intelligence.

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References

Barnes, K. L. (2004). Applying self‐efficacy theory to counselor training and supervision: A
comparison of two approaches. Counselor education and supervision, 44(1), 56-69.
Easton, C., Martin Jr, W. E., & Wilson, S. (2008). Emotional intelligence and implications for
counseling self‐efficacy: Phase II. Counselor Education and Supervision, 47(4), 218-
232.
Ford, B. Q., & Mauss, I. B. (2015, June). Culture and emotion regulation. Current Opinion in
Psychology, 3, 1-5.
Frankl, V. E. (1985). Man’s search for meaning. Simon and Schuster.
Gardner, H. (2012). The theory of multiple intelligences. Early Professional Development for
Teachers, 133.
Goleman, D. (2005). Emotional intelligence. Bantam.
Larson, L. M., Suzuki, L. A., Gillespie, K. N., Potenza, M. T., Bechtel, M. A., & Toulouse, A. L.
(1992). Development and validation of the counseling self-estimate inventory. Journal of
Counseling Psychology, 39(1), 105.