Have you watched Netflix’s Nobody Wants This yet? Just in case you haven’t, I won’t go into the details. For this post, all you need to know is that it’s a love story filled with emotional intelligence. As a psychologist who helps people build and grow their emotional intelligence, I was delighted to watch it being portrayed in a way that will likely encourage others to express and regulate their emotions in healthy ways.
I work with a lot of teens and young adults and as I’m sure you can imagine, relationship issues come up quite a bit. Whether it’s navigating problems with a close friend or deciding whether to date someone, adolescents are learning how to get in touch with their feelings, share them in a way that feels safe and helpful, manage the intense feelings before they become out of control, and figuring out how their feelings fit into their relationships. It’s a lot. Most shows don’t help with any of this since they highlight emotionally immature adults as the norm—adults spy on one another, are constantly jealous or controlling, misread situations rather than ask questions, and hide what they’re thinking and feeling from those they love. Add in social media posts where adolescents are told how love conquers all or that love will heal you and it’s no wonder many teens and young adults struggle with........