Susie Orbach Quotes
Emotional Literacy Education Course 101:
Lesson One: What Is Emotional Literacy?
by Mark Zimmerman

The first time I came across the concept of Emotional Literacy was at the Antidote Website, where I read Susie Orbach's definition. She is a Psychologist who wrote in The Guardian on August 12th, 1998, "Emotional Literacy means being able to recognize what you are feeling, so that it doesn't interfere with thinking. It becomes another dimension to draw upon when making decisions or encountering situations. Emotional expression by contrast can mean being driven by emotions, so that it isn't possible to think. These two things are often confused, because we are still uncomfortable with the idea of the validity of feelings."

At the Antidote Website Emotional Literacy is defined as, "Emotional Literacy is the practice of engaging with others in a way which facilitates understanding of our own and others' emotions. Then using this understanding to inform our actions."

At the Antidote Website Susie Orbach wrote, "Our aim is to create an Emotionally Literate Culture, where the facility to handle the complexities of emotional life is as widespread as the capacity to read, write and do arithmetic."