Permission to Feel

Outline

Permission to Feel (2019) argues that emotions are essential information, not weaknesses to be hidden. Marc Brackett presents the RULER approach, which teaches people to recognise, understand, label, express, and regulate their emotions. He explains how these skills improve learning, relationships, health, and performance, and shows how parents, teachers, and leaders can help others develop emotional intelligence.

• Emotions are useful information about what matters to us, not weaknesses that should be hidden or pushed away.
• The RULER approach has five skills: recognise, understand, label, express, and regulate your emotions.
• Emotional intelligence supports better learning, stronger relationships, better health, and better performance.
• Parents, teachers, and leaders can help others build emotional intelligence, not only work on their own.
• Giving yourself permission to feel is the starting point for expressing emotions clearly and feeling more connected.

Marc Brackett is an American psychologist and the founding director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence at Yale University. He developed RULER, an evidence-based approach to social and emotional learning used in thousands of schools. Permission to Feel is his first book for general readers.