#emotionallogic

Author -  Christiaan Stirling

Christiaan has worked in primary school education for over 20 years as a teacher and Headteacher. He now works part time for the Emotional Logic Centre.

Depression, anxiety and stress related issues are a huge challenge for teachers and school leaders – not only with the children and families they work with but with colleagues too.

Anyone reading this who works in schools will not be surprised at the range of mental health issues schools have to deal with. Those of you who have not been in a school environment for many years may be shocked at the situations school staff need to address on a regular basis and this is in addition to their personal needs which arise from working in an environment where change and increasing accountability are constants.

I’m not going to attempt to discuss the complex reasons that have led to this situation or to make political or ideological comments about what could been done differently. I am here to suggest one way forward which has been proved to have a significantly positive impact in schools.

Evidence has shown that using Emotional Logic (EL) in schools can meet many of the needs mentioned in this article. The schools with the greatest success in this area have decided to train staff to teach EL techniques to the children, train the children to mentor each other in this area and highly skill a few key members of the staff team to become EL Facilitators. This results in a self-sustaining, affordable model which the school can manage internally without the need for expensive ongoing licenses or training.

How can an Emotional Logic Facilitator help?

Speak to any experienced teacher and they will be able to tell you about the wide range of mental health issues they are asked to deal with. This is now seen as part of the teacher’s core responsibility and the school and individuals are held accountable for the way they handle the often very challenging and sensitive situations that arise. A brief internet search for mental health issues in schools will open the door to research on the increase in physical attacks on members of staff, self-harming behaviour, anxiety and depression to name just a few. As a primary school practitioner for over twenty years I can personally testify to the rise in the number of incidents of this type.

Many children are suffering from significant mental health issues but too often professionals are quick to diagnose with a label such as depression or anxiety when the child (or adult) is simply going through the normal process of adjusting to change. Through the use of Emotional Logic the child can be made aware that what they are going through is a normal reaction to change, and that there is a common sequence of emotional events, or stepping stones, and this can help enormously. The child can be taught that they are actually grieving for a loss and that something can be done about this. While working with a trusted person in a safe environment it is possible to put together a simple action plan for the child to use to begin to regain some of what they have lost. Not only does this put the child back in some kind of influence over their emotions but it enables them to have hope for the future that they can actually take action and help themselves. Once brief training is given it is quite common for children to quickly move onto helping others with the knowledge they have gained of the emotional processes that we all go through, including giving advice to their parents! To realise that their peers, their teachers and their closest loved ones all experience similar emotions when things that they value are threatened is hugely liberating.

Parents are eager for ways to engage with their child during times of emotional turmoil

I regularly see a thirst for knowledge from parents who want to know how to deal with their child who may be showing signs of anxiety, sadness or aggression. When offering an EL taster session to parents it is not uncommon for school halls to be filled. Recently a highly successful school in Plymouth offered this training to their year 7 parents. Within a few hours of the offer being emailed out the hundred free places were filled. We have had to put on a second event which has been filled just as quickly. Over the two-hour session parents were shown how to use simple resources to enable their child to communicate how they were feeling. Fun was had by everyone as they worked through various scenarios involving their child that could cause an emotional reaction! Feedback from these sessions is always overwhelmingly positive and the parents delight in being able to discuss challenges with other adults in similar situations.

Retention of school staff due to increased mental health issues

It has been recognised for some time that there is a crisis in recruiting and retaining teachers due in part to the mental health issues associated with the job. In a recent survey carried out by one of the major teaching unions, it was revealed that 80% of new teachers reported experiencing more stress in the last year as a result of their teaching job and 75% said their job was impacting negatively on their health, with nearly half saying it had affected their mental health.  (NASUWT Aug 2016)

How many of you Headteachers or Governors have remembered that safeguarding the wellbeing of staff is one of the school’s governing body’s statutory duties? Putting a system in place to enable staff to support each other, through an understanding of the logical principles behind emotional responses, goes some way towards meeting this duty. EL training has been used in school settings to enable staff to increase their emotional resilience by having a deeper understanding of why they feel like they do and by being able to make a plan to move forwards. Staff develop a shared language and critically a positive, solution focussed outlook to their practice.

Emotional Logic sends a simple, innovative and highly positive message; what you are feeling is perfectly normal in the circumstances. These emotions may feel unpleasant but they have a useful purpose. Together we can find a logical and effective way through this to a more positive future.

To my mind, Emotional Logic is the most successful way I have come across to address the range of mental health issues associated with schools, for the children, families and staff. EL is a lifelong learning technique that will have a positive impact on people of all ages, across all social groups. I have seen it used successfully in high flying schools with a reputation for academic excellence and in schools in special measures. I have seen it used effectively in schools and units that work with the most challenging excluded children.

I will always remember the impact EL has had on key individuals I have worked with – the specialist teaching team who worked with the most challenging children in the city using EL to support each other when times were most challenging and the hope and resilience it inspired in them. The girl who was terrified to go on the residential trip who was able to make a plan which enabled her to take part in everything to the full and to really enjoy the week away. The boy who was able to begin to understand why his mother felt so sad and who was able to help himself to feel better by planning two special surprises for her.

If you truly want to make a difference to the children you work with and the dedicated, hard-working people who support them, contact the Emotional Logic Centre to find out how we can work with you.

Email: [email protected]

The Rio Olympics has brought forth many remarkable human stories and achievements. The one that caught my attention is the story behind the face of Mo Farah as he went on to win the 10,000m, shown here thanks to photographer Marc Aspland and The Times. It appeared in an article by James Hider on August 15th entitled Family promise that propelled Farah to victory.

James Hider wrote, ‘The runner recovered from a heart-stopping stumble to claim a medal for his daughter. In the scrum of pushing runners, his legs tangled with those of the US athlete Galen Rupp. Hopes of a third Olympic gold seemed to have been dashed as he fell and rolled, but the hero of London 2012 was not about to give up.

“When I fell down, for a moment I thought my race was over, my dream was over, but then I managed to dig deep,” Farah, 33, said after his spectacular comeback to take the gold medal.

“I promised my daughter Rhianna I was going to get her a medal and I was thinking ‘I can’t let her down’. That is all I was thinking about — her. That is why I was quite emotional at the end because it almost went.”

And Mo was not the only emotional person! Think about the impact in that stadium, and on Mo’s family.

That focus beyond oneself, whether on a person or a medal it matters not, turns the emotional preparation of body and mind and spirit into an integrated force for achievement. The perfection, of course, is the relationships that are built through that achievement, which make the celebrations life sustaining.

So what is the Emotional Logic message in this incident? We talk of ‘The Growth Cycle’, by which a setback or disappointment or hurt can be turned into personal growth of new resources for living. Everyone has heard of someone who says they have come through hard times feeling stronger than before. That is what learning Emotional Logic makes accessible to anyone, no matter how hard and insoluble the setbacks may be. But what is the key that unlocks the Growth Cycle, as it did for Mo Farah after that fall?

Between ‘Bargaining’ to recover one named loss, and ‘Acceptance’ to let go of it, is the horrible ‘Depression’ emotional Stepping Stone. This is not a clinical depression. Emotional Logic rehabilitates these feelings of emptiness and powerlessness to their useful place in a normal and healthy process of adjustment to some ‘change’, such as falling in a race. It is ‘the place of decision’, whether having named the loss to try harder to recover it, or to let go of it and accept that something else will have to happen instead. It is the place where people grow in wisdom, having seen their limits. “Do I explore my limits further in some new way, or do I put my energies into adapting to life after letting go of something valued?”

Mo was absolutely clear and focused that he was not going to let go of his promise to his daughter. But most of us misinterpret that ‘message’ of emptiness, or seeing limits, as if it means we are powerless. We are NOT. We always have the power of choice, if not over what we do, instead over how we do what we have to. Depressive feelings do not mean powerlessness. They mean ‘limits that I can choose to explore’. They are the modern misnomer for ‘humility’. It is an unpopular notion, but one that is vital if wise choices are to be made. Wisdom is when humility, and exploring one’s limits with every ounce of energy one has, run hand in hand.

Mo made a wise choice, I think we would all agree!