Poland in the fight for the title of master of research and emotional intelligence. The Institute of Emotions Development as a driver of change in EQ education.

On July 14-17, 2019, the 7th International Congress on Emotional Intelligence took place in Australia. Poland was once again represented by Marzena Martyniak, who presented the results of pioneering research and workshops conducted among employees of Polish educational institutions as part of the Emotions Development Institute she runs. The Institute was distinguished by the participants of the congress as the fastest growing institution in the world in the field of emotional intelligence in the last 2 years.

“The research of our institute fits in the global trend of a holistic approach to working on emotions, on strategies for their regulation and personal development. This translates into better and better results achieved by the participants of our training courses – on average 30% higher after participating in a 4-month workshop. We are glad that these effects have been noticed and aroused the interest of researchers from around the world and that we have received further proposals for establishing cooperation and sharing our knowledge. ” – says Marzena Martyniak. “During the previous edition, we presented our program for developing emotional intelligence in children, while this year we focused on the results of adults working in kindergartens. Children need caregivers who can work with their emotions themselves, so that they can learn this knowledge from kindergarten. It is work on the general development of society, not only professionally but also mentally. ”

As Dr. David R. Caruso, professor Yale, known in Poland as the author of the book “Emotionally intelligent manager”, said at the conference: Let us learn from specialists, they will help us gain reliable knowledge and develop correct habits. Developing emotional intelligence is similar to learning to play guitar, which I have always wanted to learn to play. I started my education learning on my own, I decided that I did not need a course with a teacher. How erroneous my thinking was when, after a few years, I saw that in this way I absorbed a lot of mistakes that made it difficult for me to play.

Among the topics discussed during the three-day conference were issues related to working with children and shaping the emotional intelligence of young people, which in the future will translate into better functioning in the professional and private environment. This formed the basis of the research conducted by Marc Brackett, in which over 20,000 people participated. American teens, which revealed that 77% of young people experience mainly fatigue, stress, boredom and frustration. The results, which show an increase in suicides among children by 28% in 2015-2017, are also alarming. Particular attention was also paid to the development of works on the expression and regulation of emotions in professional environments directly affecting other people – teachers, health service workers, students and students of military schools. In this regard, the Institute for the Development of Emotions presented the results of a 4-month training prepared for teachers, conducted in 2018, which was attended by representatives of teaching institutions – managers, teachers and directors. The original system of work on all aspects of emotional intelligence and its high effectiveness was positively received by representatives of the academic world. The training program applied in Poland has a chance to become part of the education system in countries such as Russia, Chile, Turkey and others with which the Institute for the Development of Emotions starts joint research projects.

The conference in Australia was attended by scientists from over 20 countries, including the greatest names in the world of psychology and psychiatry, incl. Marc Brackett – director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence and professor of Child Study Center at Yale University, David R. Caruso – professor of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, Dr. Chris Skinner, Joseph Ciarrochi – professor of the Institute for Positive Psychology and Education at the Australian Catholic University and Dr. John Pellitteri – president and co-founder of the International Society for Emotional Intelligence and associate professor at Queen College.