Growing Up Emotionally: Learning to Live from Your Head and Heart

Research has shown that a good life is built around nurturing relationships, and that emotional attunement is among the most important developmental skills necessary for initiating, developing, and maintaining healthy relationships. Yet for many, experiencing emotions in the body and using them as an attunement bridge to others is foreign territory. The disconnect from the head and heart has origins in insecure attachment, untreated trauma, and other co-occurring mental health issues. Even more, our academic systems neglect teaching the critical skills of emotional attunement, leaving many unprepared for successfully negotiating the relational challenges that emerge in marriage, parenting, work, and friendship. In this webinar we’ll provide you guidance on how to grow up emotionally, self-regulate difficult feelings, and negotiate the difficult but rewarding terrain of relationships.

• The origins of emotional attunement and causes for developmental constriction
• Why learning to read and express feelings is the key ingredient in intimate relationships
• Specific interventions to address gaps in emotional development
• How integrating your head and heart provides the foundation for your best life

About the Presenter

John Fitzgerald is the creator of the 5-Actions Program™. Dr. Fitzgerald has been on Clinical Faculty in the Department of Psychiatry at Oregon Health & Sciences University since 1998, a Licensed Professional Counselor in Oregon since 2001, and a Certified Addiction Specialist since 2006. He holds a doctoral degree in systems science and social psychology from the Systems Science Graduate Program at Portland State University where he has also held an Adjunct Faculty position since 2007. His career has been devoted to understanding addiction and its treatments, and translating that knowledge into the 5-Actions Program.