By Concentric Counselor Myron Nelson, LPC, LCPC

Excerpt from Neighborhood Parents Network (NPN) blog: Help Your Boy Express All of His Emotions  

The contributing factors and consequences on why boys are viewed as less emotional is an area worth consideration, but for purposes of this post, it is simply for those who see it as an issue and yearn to address it. I want to share some helpful and practical ways for you to improve young boys’ emotional IQ.

The best kind of care is preventative.  A good starting point is helping boys explore emotions by starting with what they know. Look to the people they interact with regularly —in person or in fantasy—as a way to talk about emotions and feelings. Bring up emotions in their space and domain. Books, video games, and movies are all driven by character interactions and are full of openings to begin conversing about feelings, especially if there is a mismatch and incongruency between what someone is saying and what someone is doing.

If boys mention that someone was angry or nervous, you could ask, “How did you know?” Inquire about what cues they observed: Was it their body language?  Facial expression? Words they verbalized?  It can often feel safer to talk about other people’s experiences and emotions instead of ourselves.

To read the full blog, please go to Help Your Boy Express All of His Emotions post.