If you think emotions don't belong in the workplace, think again! Emotions, when welcomed and respected, are an essential part of productive and healthy workplace environments. In this episode, Debbie talks with Karla McLaren about the power of emotions at work, problems with the modern workplace environment, and her ideas for how to implement real cultural change at work.

• Why Debbie is such a big fan of Karla's work on emotions at work.
  
• Reasons why so many workplaces are "toxic" and what makes them so.
  
• The toll of invisible emotional labor.
  
• Why emotions are important and necessary at work.
  
• Ways we can foster better communication and more humane workplace environments.
  

Karla McLaren, M.Ed. is an award-winning author, social science researcher, workplace consultant, and empathy pioneer. Her lifelong work focuses on her grand unified theory of emotions, which 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 LLC and the developer of the Empathy Academy online learning site. Her applied work, Dynamic Emotional Integration® (also known as DEI) is a trailblazing approach to emotions and empathy that reveals the genius and the healing power within the emotional realm. Karla has also developed the groundbreaking Six Essential Aspects of Empathy model that highlights all of the processes in healthy empathy and makes them easily understandable, accessible, and attainable. Karla is the author of The Power of Emotions at Work: Accessing the Vital Intelligence in Your Workplace (2021), Embracing Anxiety: How to Access the Genius of this Vital Emotion (2020), The Dynamic Emotional Integration® Workbook (2018), The Art of Empathy: A Complete Guide to Life’s Most Essential Skill (2013), The Language of Emotions: What Your Feelings are Trying to Tell You (2010), and the multi-media online course Emotional Flow: Becoming Fluent in the Language of Emotions (2012). Karla has won several honors and awards, including the 2010 Gold Medal from the Independent Publisher Book Awards. Karla has taught at such venues as the University of San Francisco, Esalen, Bioneers, Naropa University, Kripalu Center, and the Association for Humanistic Psychology. She’s also a Certified Human Resource Administrator and a Certified Career Development Facilitator with a Master’s Degree in Education. She lives in Sonoma County, California.

• Grab your copy of Karla's book, The Power of Emotions at Work: Accessing the Vital Intelligence in Your Workplace (2021)
  
  
• Grab copies of all our favorite books at bookshop.org/shop/offtheclockpsych.
  
• Check out Debbie, Diana, Yael, and Jill’s websites to access their offerings, sign up for their newsletters, buy their books, and more! 
  

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