Hello, I am a marital therapist, communications trainer and author. I have thirty-five years helping couples and individuals make better relationships. I have written twenty-plus self-help books which include the international best-sellers ‘I love you but I’m not in love with you’ and ‘How can I ever trust you again?’ My books have been translated into twenty languages. I trained with RELATE the UK’s largest counselling charity. Perhaps it has been turning sixty but I have become interested in spiritual as well as psychological questions. Who am I? What are my values – as opposed to my parents, my teachers and the wider society? What makes my life meaningful? What do I believe about life, the universe and everything? Although my clients might come to me because of destructive arguments, falling out of love and infidelity, they are also interested in having more meaningful relationships and a more meaningful life. So what is the meaningful life? Why do we so easily lose our way and get lost in depression, anxiety, doubt, addictions and obsessions: the swamplands of the soul? One thing I know for sure is that there is not one answer...
https://andrewgmarshall.com/podcasts/
episode 149: Karla McLaren: What is the Feeling Trying to Tell Me?
“Stop crying now”, “cheer up”, “what a lovely smile” - these are the kinds of messages most of us hear from infancy. Karla McLaren’s work is all about undoing this learning, and valuing ALL of our emotions. Even though the way you work with emotions can have positive or negative outcomes, the emotions themselves are not good or bad.
In fact, anger, shame or sadness are the bearers of important messages. And according to Karla, they also bring with them the skills and energy you’ll need to cope in each situation.
Karla McLaren, M.Ed. is an award-winning author, educator, workplace consultant, and social science researcher. Her work revalues even the most “negative” emotions and opens startling new pathways into self-awareness, effective communication, and healthy empathy. She is the founder and CEO of Emotion Dynamics Inc.
She is also the author of many books, including The Language of Emotions, The Power of Emotions at Work, and Embracing Anxiety, and she is the developer of the online learning site EmpathyAcademy.org. She is online at karlamclaren.com.
If You’re Looking for More….
You can subscribe to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Podcasts) and hear a bonus mini-episode every week. Or you can join our Supporters Club on Patreon to also access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50.
This week supporters will hear:
⭐️ Conscious Complaining
⭐️Three things Karla McLaren knows to be true.
⭐️AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees.
Follow Up
Read Andrew’s new Substack newsletter The Meaningful Life, and join the community there.
Read Karla McLaren’s new book The Language of Emotions
Read Karla McLaren’s other books
Visit Karla McLaren’s website
Find out about upcoming courses at the online learning site developed by Karla McLaren, Empathy Academy
Follow Karla McLaren @KarlaMcLarenAuthor on Facebook, @karlamclaren.m.ed on Instagram, @EmotionDynamics on YouTube and on LinkedIn.
You might also be interested in our other episodes, including: Healing Your Lost Inner Child with Robert Jackman, or What Do You Really Want? With Charlotte Fox Weber.
Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall