The Meaningful Life with Andrew G. Marshall

Karla McLaren: How Much Emotion is Too Much?

Jan 27, 2025

Karla McLaren, an award-winning author and expert on emotions, discusses the value of embracing feelings like anger and shame for personal growth. She emphasizes that anxiety can provide crucial insights rather than simply being managed through mindfulness. McLaren offers practical techniques for engaging with intense emotions, advocating for self-awareness over repression. The conversation also highlights the importance of empathy in relationships and how understanding our feelings can lead to meaningful connections and healthier communication.

47:20

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Episode guests

Karla McLaren

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Quick takeaways

Karla McLaren emphasizes that engaging with 'negative' emotions like anxiety can enhance cognitive performance and emotional understanding.

Developing a rich emotional vocabulary allows individuals to articulate feelings more precisely, improving emotional regulation and fostering better interpersonal communication.

Deep dives

The Pursuit of Meaning in Life

The podcast emphasizes that humans are fundamentally driven by the desire for meaning, and a lack of this meaning can lead to suffering. Marital therapist Andrew G. Marshall and emotions expert Carla McLaren explore the significance of recognizing and understanding our emotions in the context of finding meaning. They encourage listeners to ask introspective questions, such as 'What are my feelings trying to tell me?' to foster a curiosity about emotional experiences and counteract habitual negative reactions. This reframing of emotions aims to build a deeper understanding of their role as essential pieces of cognition rather than oppositional forces to logic and rationality.

Intro

2min

Embracing Emotions: A Path to Growth

18min

The Dual Nature of Shame

6min

Navigating Frozen Panic and Emotional Complexity

9min

Navigating Emotional Dynamics in Relationships

5min

Navigating Emotional Sensitivity in Relationships

6min

Empathy and Community: Navigating Emotions through Humor and Kindness

3min

If you’re feeling anxious, meditation and mindfulness may not be the answer. Instead, author KARLA McLAREN would advise us to sit with the feelings of anxiety and hear the useful messages they’re bringing to help us cope with a tricky situation.

In this episode, Andrew and Karla discuss:

How anger, shame and sadness can be the bearers of crucial information.
“Negative” emotions and the skills and energy they can provide.
Why understanding our emotions is so hard.
How to engage with challenging emotions, when society has taught many of us it’s better to repress them.

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 Empathy Academy.

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:

How to Deal With Confusion
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

Get Andrew’s free guide to difficult conversations with your partner: How to Tell Your Partner Difficult Things

Take a look at Andrew’s new online relationship course: My Best Relationship Tools

Read Karla McLaren’s new book The Language of Emotions Workbook

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.

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

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