By Barbara Dickinson

If you would like to listen to the audio version of this blog, you can find it on YouTube .

How Social and Emotional Learning relates to Exploring Interaction

I have heard it said that communication and relating skills are suffering from the overuse of cell phones, text messages, social media and video games. This connects directly to a question I have held for some time, “What gave rise to Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) curricula?” One take suggests these 3 factors are key: (1) increased awareness of mental health needs, (2) recognition of the link between SEL and academic success, and (3) growing emphasis on 21st-century skills.

These ring true! Extensive analysis is not in the scope of this Blog, so we cannot take you through the underpinnings of these observations. For now, we can observe and attest that these are important factors influencing how the needs of our young people are addressed to help them not only survive, but thrive, in the world in which they find themselves.

Interactive Focusing to the Rescue!

All this points to why it is surprising and delightful that Dr. Janet Klein, as far back as 1998, recognized all this, and made the skills of Interactive Focusing accessible to classroom teachers. In 1998 Dr. Klein published “Inside Me Stories: Something Is Happening Inside Me,” providing guidance for teachers of Grades 1-2 and 3-5, including Stories, Teacher Guides, Classroom Exercises, Partnership and Group sharing Suggestions, and Study Guides.

For Those Who Want More Detail

"Inside-Me Stories" is a valuable tool for teaching children the skills they need to navigate the social and emotional challenges of life. By learning to understand and express their emotions, children can build stronger relationships, improve their communication skills, and develop a greater sense of self-awareness and self-esteem. The book's focus on experiential learning and its use of interactive storytelling make it a fun and engaging way for students to learn social and emotional skills.

In the first story about an “inside place,” teachers are offered the "Approach Exercise" which helps children (and adults) tap into their own bodily wisdom - their situational awareness - about how close or distant feels safe in the physical space with another person. Reading this story about feeling okay inside, I found it encouraging that a necessary condition to further explore relating is to establish the boundary of safety first. There are two stories in the book about children feeling unsafe with parents who were not checking on their child's sense of safety before acting. This kind of instruction is key to supporting and training our children to be empowered adults in a world that is not always safe.

The author uses building blocks from her work with adults and Interactive Focusing. The first two building blocks are safety and the body sense. The author uses terms like “inside place” and “inside ears” to help children bring their attention to their body. These Building Blocks appear in the story, "Finding My Inside-Place - What It Feels Like Inside There". The exercises associated with these stories help children to define the body sense experientially. They learn to identify their personal space and boundaries.

The third building block is "body sense listening," featured in the stories, "I Have Ears Inside My Stomach," "Do We Listen Only with Our Ears?", and "How Do I Listen...Most Often?" Building block four explains "storyteller-as-teacher," and is featured in the story, "Just Listen to Me - Please". Listening to another to truly understand how they are, and telling our story so that we can be better understood, help build the skills of self-compassion and empathy, and how to hold others in the same way.

In closing…

As we have mentioned before, Dr. Klein is no longer with us, and the further development of her work has yet to emerge. I highly recommend this book to anyone who works with children in any setting, because its insights about ways to communicate and teach social and emotional skills are invaluable. 

To purchase the book, visit the Bookstore at The International Focusing Institute here

.

Seen on a Road Sign

In “Inside Me Stories,” Dr. Klein mentions the work of an author who teaches children the usefulness of their own stories. "Vivian Gussin Paley has written a series of books about children telling their own stories, some of which are "The Boy Who Would Be A Helicopter", "You Can't Say You Can't Play," and "The Kindness Of Children". She presents one way a teacher can help children be heard… And she models a very special way of listening." Check out Paley’s books on Amazon.

Other sources mentioned are Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman, Meeting at the Crossroads by Lyn Mikel Brown and Carol Gilligan, The Nurture Assumption by Judith Rich Harris, and of course, Focusing by Dr Eugene T. Gendlin.

Learning Opportunities

• You can find our 2025 course schedule HERE. 
• We offer a 15 month Focusing skills training for beginners called Creating Space for Lasting Change.  
• Here are Sandy Jahmi Burg's LearnFocusing.org Classes
• As we are on Eastern New York time, you can find similar times to those we offer for the Changes meetings. 

Up Next

Have you heard a voice inside you say, “Gee! I did not do much last year!” Or are you still struggling with resolutions or goal setting? Then our next blog post for Exploring Interaction might be for you! We will talk about a way to look at the year behind and the year ahead from the point of view of “What Have I Accomplished Anyhow?” Stay tuned!

Questions? 

If any of this prompts a question or a comment, we would love to hear from you. Use our Contact Form at the bottom of the page to reach out.

Until next time!

• Our Monthly Virtual Changes Meeting for Exploring Interaction Schedule and Registration is here. 
• Watch our Demonstration of Interactive Focusing with Sandy and Barbara here.
• Read more about Exploring Interaction here. 
• Resources about Interactive Focusing are found here. 
• You can read the latest from Sandy about Smartview Conversations here.
• Read Sandy’s latest blog post on “How Does Focusing Lead to Action” here.