Emotions are the building blocks of every relationship in your life, and the power of those emotions cannot be overlooked. Emotions influence the way you relate and react to others—often without your awareness. If you are not keenly aware of the emotions you are experiencing internally and how you are communicating this externally—and similarly aware of the other person would appear unattractive to others because of the negative effect you might have  on them.  Human beings are highly social creatures with strong needs for relationships and positive connections to others. We are not meant to survive, let alone thrive, in isolation. Our social brains crave companionship—even when experience has made us shy and distrustful of others.  The ability to be aware of your own emotions and the feelings of others is the key to betters relationships that are engaging, exciting, fulfilling, creative, and productive. Emotional intelligence keeps your relationships strong and healthy. Without it, your relationships will always stall and  potentially break down. Fortunately, emotional intelligence is based on set of skills that you can learn at any time.

Learning the skills of emotional intelligence help to:

•    Build safety and trust
•    Capture the attention and interest of others
•    Respond to others with empathy and compassion
•    Send and receive appropriate nonverbal signals
•    Be more playful and creative
Resolve conflict and repair wounded feelings

SOURCE:  HP-MOS Research Department

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Researchers have studied people with strokes, brain tumors, and other types of brain damage, and have made some interesting discoveries about intelligence.  It has been suggested that when the parts of our brains that enable us to feel emotions are damaged, our intellects remain intact. We can still talk, analyse, perform excellently on IQ tests, and even predict how we should act in social situations. However, under these tragic circumstances, we are unable to make decisions in the real world—to interact successfully and appropriately with other people, to plan for the immediate or long-term future, to creatively solve problems, and ultimately, to succeed.

The difference between success and failure in life is less a product of what happens to you than how you react to unexpected, unpleasant, and threatening experiences. Those who can deal with adversity survive. Emotional intelligence is not a safety net that protects you from life’s tragedies, frustrations, or disappointments. Emotionally intelligent individuals go through bad times and experience sadness, anger, and fear—just like everyone else. Nevertheless, they respond differently than less healthy people to these experiences. Emotional intelligence gives you the ability to cope and bounce back from stress, adversity, trauma, and loss. In other words, emotional intelligence makes you resilient

SOURCE:  HP-MOS Research Department

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What is emotional intelligence?

Emotional intelligence is essentially the ability to recognise, manage, and use your emotions in positive and constructive ways. It is also the ability to recognise the emotional state of others and engage them in ways that create mutual safety, trust and confidence. Research shows that intellectual intelligence (IQ) has less to do with success in life than emotional intelligence (EQ). Our IQ helps us understand and navigate the world on one level, but we also need EQ, in order to improve our relations with others, hence improve our health and well- being.  Emotional intelligence is directly linked to self-esteem, self-awareness, compassion, empathy, and adaptability—important predictors of health and well-being and success in life. Emotional intelligence is what helps you communicate clearly, lead others, and build powerful relationships at work and in your personal life, hence better health. Emotional intelligence also helps you motivate yourself, solve problems, and achieve your goals.

Emotional intelligence and its four fundamental capabilities.

•    Self-awareness – the ability to be conscious of your emotions and recognise their impact while using gut feelings to guide your decisions.
•    Self-management – the ability to control your emotions and behaviour and adapt to changing circumstances.
•    Social awareness – the ability to sense, understand, and react to the emotions of others and feels comfortable socially.
•    Relationship management – the ability to inspire, influence, and connect to others while managing conflict

SOURCE:  HP-MOS Research Department

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In order to maintain and strengthen your mental and emotional health, it is important to pay attention to your own needs and feelings. Do not let stress and negative emotions build up. Try to maintain a balance between your daily responsibilities and the things you enjoy. If you take care of yourself, you will be better prepared to deal with challenges when they arise.

Tips and Strategies for improving Mental and Emotional  Well Being

• Appeal to your senses. Stay calm and energised by appealing to the five senses: sight, sound, touch, smell, and taste. Listen to music that lifts your mood, place flowers where you will see and smell them, massage your hands and feet, or sip a warm drink. 
• Engage in meaningful, creative work. Do things that challenge your creativity and make you feel productive, whether or not you are paid for it – things like gardening, drawing, writing, playing an instrument, or building something in your workshop.
• Make leisure time a priority. Do things for no other reason than that it feels good to do them. Go to a funny movie, take a walk on the beach, listen to music, read a good book, or talk to a friend. Doing things just because they are fun is no indulgence. Play is an emotional and mental health necessity.  
• Make time for contemplation and appreciation. Think about the things you are grateful for. Mediate,  enjoy the sunset, or simply take a moment to pay attention to what is good, positive, and beautiful as you go about your day
• Everyone is different; not all things will be. equally beneficial to all people. Some people feel better relaxing and slowing down while others need more activity and more excitement or stimulation to feel better. The important thing is to find activities that you enjoy and that give you a boost.

SOURCE:  HP-MOS Research Department

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Being emotionally and mentally healthy does not mean never going through bad times or experiencing emotional problems. We all go through disappointments, loss, and change. Moreover, while these are normal parts of life, they can still cause sadness, anxiety, and stress.

The difference is that people with good emotional health have an ability to bounce back from adversity, trauma, and stress. This ability is called resilience. People who are emotionally and mentally healthy have the tools for coping with difficult situations and maintaining a positive outlook. They remain focused, flexible, and creative in bad times as well as good.

One of the key factors in resilience is the ability to balance your emotions. The capacity to recognise your emotions and express them appropriately helps you avoid being stuck in depression, anxiety, or other negative mood states. Another key factor is having a strong social support network. Having trusted people you can turn to for encouragement and support will boost your resilience in tough times

Building your RESILIENCE

Resilience involves maintaining flexibility and balance in your life as you deal with stressful circumstances and traumatic events.

This happens in several ways, including:

• Letting yourself experience strong emotions, and also realising when you may need to avoid experiencing them at times in order to continue functioning
• Stepping forward and taking action to  deal with your problems and meet the demands of daily living, and also stepping back to rest and reenergise yourself
• Spending time with loved ones to gain support and encouragement, and also nurturing yourself 
• Relying on others, and also relying on yourself

SOURCE:  HP-MOS Research Department

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ACKNOWLEDGING AND THANKING COMPANIES FOR THEIR SUPPORT

Health Psychology Management Organisation Services would like to acknowledge and thank the following companies for their generosity in donating goods and equipments to our charitable cause in supporting people in need around the globe. Each year we continue to advance the cause of our charitable objectives through donation of goods and equipments as we are dedicated to enhancing the quality and content of the lives of people. The contribution of goods and equipments exemplifies our philosophy, and demonstrate to many potential people in need that we are trying to diminish poverty and provide meaningful experiences to those who otherwise would be destined for despair and hopelessness.  

We acknowledge and thank the following Companies:

• Cannon
• 3M
• BT Community Connections
• thetrainline.com
• Dalebrook
• Sisley UK
  

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Health Psychology Management Org. Services Awarded BT Laptop

   
  
Health Psychology Management Org. Services is celebrating having received a laptop and a year's free wireless broadband access from BT Community Connections award scheme.

This community award scheme is run by BT to give community and charitable organisations the opportunity to access the online world of marketing, recruitment, fundraising, communication and networking. Health Psychology Management org. Services was among thousands that entered the award scheme across the UK and ROI and impressed judges with their ideas on how access to the internet would benefit both our group and the local community.

The award of a laptop would allow us to download a computerised Cognitive Behaviour Therapy software package on the laptop for community use to support people with mental long-term health conditions. The online therapy encompasses strategies, activities and interventions to develop the resilience, resourcefulness, and well-being of individuals.

We are absolutely delighted with our BT Community Connections award. This furthers our work directly with beneficiaries and frontline staff in providing psychological support for organisations and people in need.

Promoting Healthy Eating and Greater Physical Activity Among BME Groups (2009-2010)

HP - MOS is lunching a project - Promoting Healthy Eating and Greater Physical Activity among Black and Minority Ethnic Groups

• The main objective of the project is to provide a framework for a comprehensive Healthier lifestyle program for Black and Minority Ethnic At Risk-communities to
  address general and particular concerns of food nutritional contents, effective physical activities with a focus on health and well-being
• Being overweight can contribute or lead to a range of health conditions, such as heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, indigestion and some cancers. Obesity levels are becoming an increasing issue for BME groups, as greater numbers of people put on extra weight, through poor diet or insufficient exercise
• The project in particular will focus on structured self-help activities to offer BME groups the opportunity to combine advice on nutrition and physical activity with
  behaviour change techniques with the support of others in the same position to manage their weight concerns
• The project activities include a dietician and an exercise specialist to design nutritional information and physical activities to produce interactive DVD as a tool for
  promoting healthy eating in supporting Black and Ethnic Minority beneficiaries in communities.

Multilateral Grundtvig Project October 2008 – September 2010

HP - MOS and its 16 European partners are engaged in Research on social inclusion by means of art therapy: tested method and European best practices.

Project Title: PhD²: Personal and human Development: Psychodrama to help the disadvantaged

• The main objective of the research is: to study in depth the link between psychodrama, art therapy and social reinstatement of disadvantage people, to analyse the best practices in the field of art therapy in the UK.
• It is widely accepted that, depending on the different causes of social exclusion, educational policies plays a strategic role and it is an essential tool for social cohesion. In recent years, always most frequently, art therapy techniques are exploited in the social inclusion field or in the educational one.
• Psychodrama, in particular, is a method that, according to the different techniques adopted, becomes a very effective tool for research, social reinstatement, therapeutic paths, educational paths etc. Psychodrama resources are able to strengthen the social lives of people, to teach them adaptation strategies and to show them new ways in terms of emotional awareness and knowledge achievement.
• The PhD² project intends to develop and experiment an integrated video-therapy and psychodrama method within a context in which a number of users with different degrees and levels of social disability, disadvantage and social exclusion can re-discover relationship and communication competences (psychodrama workshops) as well as acquiring specialised skills (audio/video production workshops) which can be useful for the integration or re-integration into a working context.