Achieving Emotional Literacy [Paperback]

Claude Steiner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2001

Emotional literacy is the ability to understand one's own feelings and to empathize with others in a way that enhances living. In this work Steiner shows how emotional intelligence can be developed by following his three stage training programme. Practical exercises and questionnaires are included. First he shows how to open the heart with techniques to break down the barriers which separate us from our feelings. Next he teaches how feelings can be recognized and expressed productively, and how to listen with empathy as others express their emotions. Finally he shows how to take the responsibility by means of defining problems in relationships, accepting our role in them and making meaningful changes. Practical exercises to nurture emotional literacy skills and questionnaires which allow the reader to evaluate their EQ appear throughout, whilst real-life examples are also given.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Calude Steiner, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and the author of numerous books on emotional development including Scripts People Live, Games Alcoholics Play and The Warm Fuzzy Tale. He lives and practices in Berkley and on his ranch in Northern California. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC (March 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0747541353
• ISBN-13: 978-0747541356
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,577,099 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A waste of time and money, August 7, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Achieving Emotional Literacy: A Personal Program to Increase Your Emotional Intelligence (Audio Cassette)

The preponderance of this cassette was filled with the author's own experiences as anecdotes, presumably meant to illustrate to us just how far he has come in his quest of emotional literacy. The entire first side of the cassette and most of the second is filled with irrelevant information which does nothing to assist the listener on how to apply any such lessons to one's own life or to assist others in achieving emotional literacy. While the author is very impressed with himself, I am not at all impressed. This cassette was quite a disappointment. I certainly cannot in good conscience recommend it to anyone who is truly interested in accomplishing anything other than wasting his/her time and money. As of this writing, this cassette has encountered my "circular file."

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Let's do the Time Warp again!, January 17, 2004

By 

Karl (England, Great Britain) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Achieving Emotional Literacy (Paperback)

RECIPE:

Take 1/2 of diced ideas that were hot stuff in the 1960s, and leave them on the back burner for 40 years
Take a teaspoonful of Flower Power, a dose of "new man"-style feminism, a pinch of Eastern mysticism and a dollop of patronising schmaltz. Mix well.
Pour the mixture over the diced ideas, and set the stove for gas mark "tepid enthusiasm".
Pour entire gloppy mess onto a plate.
Drizzle a little pseudo-philosophical waffle for taste and serve as Coq au Vin - or any other classy-sounding title that takes your fancy.

We read, in the "glossary" at the back of this book:

"Emotional Intelligence: essentially the same as Emotional Literacy."

Well, I've read 217 pages about this so-called "emotional literacy", and several books on "Emotional Intelligence", and I still can't see any resemblence.

As far as I can tell, at it's heart, "emotional literacy" - which is presumably described accurately here, since author Claude Steiner claims to have invented the term - amounts to just two ideas:

1. Make war on part of your personality labelled "critical parent", or "pig parent":

"Stand up against your Critical Parent"
"By courageously addressing these feelings ... we engage in an ongoing battle with our Critical Parent"
"Fighting the Critical Parent"
"...we need to understand how to respond when our Critical Parent attacks us"

Is this a very useful or "emotionally literate" state to put ourselves in when there are numorous, far gentler and more effective, techniques for dealing with self-criticism?
I don't think so.

2. Learn to give and receive "strokes" on a day-to-day basis
This makes much more sense - show appropriate appreciation for other people, receive compliments gracefully - and believe them - and generally treat yourself respectfully.

Seems like a good policy. But there is very little in this book that deals with the details of "how" to do this beyond a veritable forest of platitudes.
And in any case, there really is SOOOOOOOO much more to genuine "emotional intelligence" that the comparison of the two concepts as equals is utterly laughable.

I was interested to note that after 170 pages of this flannel, the whole topic of "Emotional Literacy and Children" fitted into 8 pages, and "EQ in the Workplace" took up only 7 pages.
We are told (page 180) that "Introducing Emotional Literacy in the Workplace is a subject worthy of a whole book. I can only give some basic hints here."

Why so?
If the subject was worth covering, why not cut some of the repetitious pap from the earlier part of the book and spend more time on this subject?
Frankly, given the quality of the text, I'd say that 7 pages was more than adequate.

In short, if you're interested in GENUINE "emotional intelligence" this book will get you nowhere. Just another big time paper waster.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If the title speaks to you, the book will likely be of benefit, October 24, 2005

By 

Jeff Bennett (Bay Area California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Achieving Emotional Literacy (Hardcover)

I really got something a lot from this book. While I have thought a lot about such matters and come around quite a bit already, I still have work to do to improve the way I live and what the consequences of my choices, intentions, attitudes, and motivations.

Frankly, it is hard for me to understand how someone could give such a work 1 star. To me that alone would be an indication of someone who likley needed it most. Clearly no one was harmed in the writing of this book. But, everyone gets an opinion and mine is certainly not always right. But here I feel pretty confident few that are really looking for answers will not benefit from reading this.

The world has a lot to learn about the subject in this book. I know I do.