What if every feeling—even shame and anxiety—brought you vital information and wisdom? Emotions—especially the unwanted and dishonored ones—hold a tremendous amount of energy. We’ve all seen what happens when we repress or recklessly express them.

In this new edition of The Language of Emotions, researcher and educator Karla McLaren takes readers much deeper than naming or managing our feelings—she teaches us to honor them, reflect on their questions, and incorporate their wisdom into our lives.

Enhanced through more than ten years of research and teaching, this edition offers a time-tested emotional guidebook. The first part teaches readers how to safely feel and identify emotions; practices for working with feelings, including setting boundaries, grounding, and conscious complaining; and four keys to emotional genius—new to this edition. The second part of the book features a chapter on each emotion—sharing its unique messages, its questions, and practices for understanding its insights. This edition features a new chapter on anxiety, a new exploration of loneliness, and much more.

Learning the language of our emotions can deepen our self-understanding, improve our intuition, and enhance our relationships. As the book makes clear, “emotions don’t cause problems—they arise to help us deal with our problems. Learn their language and you can change your life.”