Dr. Amin Azzam recently hosted an Osmosis webinar offering valuable advice on the importance of emotional intelligence and resilience in healthcare. In today’s Osmosis blog, we’re sharing his top-notch advice and discussing the crucial role EI, EQ, and emotional well-being play in today’s healthcare landscape.
It should be no surprise that characteristics like intellect, compassion, curiosity, discipline, and focus are commonly associated with health professionals and caregivers. However, despite emotional intelligence and resilience’s crucial role in effective caregiving, they’re often overlooked.
For example, emotionality, AKA “being emotional,” especially when expressed at work, is commonly seen as a weakness or something to hide. However, a high emotional quotient, or EQ, benefits caregivers—as well as their patients—in the challenging and often emotionally charged healthcare environment. For example, when you ask a patient what brings them into your clinical setting, one of the common phrases they use is “I feel” before they further delve into their chief concern. Understanding, respecting, and empathizing with your patient’s feelings while validating and regulating your own can greatly improve the provider-patient relationship.
Regardless of your chosen health profession, taking care of others is the primary goal, but taking care of yourself is equally important. After all, if you don’t take care of yourself, how can you continue taking care of others over the long haul? Developing emotional intelligence and emotional resilience helps you do both.
What is emotional intelligence (EI)?
Emotional intelligence, or EI, can be defined in various ways. The Oxford Dictionary defines it as “The capacity to be aware of, control, and express one’s emotions, and to handle interpersonal relationships judiciously and empathetically.” The original definition of emotional intelligence can be traced back to research published in 1989 by Peter Salovey and John D. Maye and is accompanied by a conceptual framework. Later, Dr. Daniel Goleman, a psychologist, and leader in emotional intelligence research, proposed that EI contains five core elements: empathy, self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, and effective communication (social skills). Regardless of the definition, the central theme remains the same: managing our emotions and expressing them appropriately to maintain effective interpersonal relationships.
Tips to develop and demonstrate your emotional intelligence
There are a few practical ways to enhance your emotional intelligence. First, it’s critical to recognize the connection between emotions and their physical manifestations. For instance, chest pain is associated with both cardiac disease and anxiety. Tension or stress headaches are often caused or triggered by strong emotions. It’s not by accident that relationship break-ups are called “heartaches.” When collaborating with your patients on their care, explore all the options and discuss their emotional well-being and any physical conditions.
Working in healthcare can feel like a whirlwind due to the sheer volume of patients you need to see. Listening to them is crucial and has the added benefit of developing your own EI. Additionally, pay close attention to nonverbal cues from your patients’ expressions and body language; those silent cues are another form of communication. For example, physical signs of anxiety include foot tapping, pacing, walking back and forth, hand-wringing, gnashing of teeth, and all sorts of facial expressions.

When speaking with your patients, consider tapping into the concept of wishful thinking. Sometimes, they may express their desire for things to be different from their current reality. As a provider, you and your patient are on the same team, working together to address their medical condition(s). A way to convey empathy involves sharing your wish for things to be different as well. After all, it is your sincere wish that things were different for this patient!
Take a step back when patients ask you why questions. For example, a patient might ask you why a particular medical condition or situation is happening to them. Do they want your “head answer” (e.g., “cancer cells divide uncontrollably and spread from one part of the body to another, usually through the bloodstream”) or your “heart answer” (where you respond to their feelings with your feelings, such as “I don’t know. But I’m sorry you’re going through this and I’m here to help”). Wishful thinking taps into at least two of the five EI elements: your empathy and your communication skills.
One last tip is to consider disclosing something relevant and personal to your patient, depending on your comfort level and whether it would benefit their treatment. Caregivers are often advised not to do this, but there are exceptions. Do you feel safe and comfortable disclosing? Do you think it will help your patient if you choose to disclose? If you answer “yes” to both these questions, then disclosing is an emotionally intelligent thing to do.
What is emotional resilience, and how is it linked to emotional intelligence?
Building emotional resilience is vital throughout your healthcare journey. Similar to emotional intelligence, there are a variety of definitions of emotional resilience. Here’s one that encapsulates it succinctly: “Emotional resilience is not about winning the battle. It is the strength to power through the storm and keep the sail steady.” So, while emotional intelligence is the ability to recognize and respond to the emotions that you and those around you feel, emotional resilience is the ability to regulate emotions and responses, endure difficult situations, and possess the strength to bounce back.
Seven strategies to increase your emotional resilience
Check out these seven helpful strategies to boost your emotional resilience. Each aims to increase your sense of positivity and feel-good emotions.
- Behave like a happy and positive person (AKA fake it ’til you make it). Even if you don’t believe it yourself, your body and other people around you will believe it.
- Engage in fun activities; do things you enjoy to enhance your quality of life. Play is important, even for health professionals!
- Spend time with others and share positive events with them. Your sharing of your positive events boosts the positive impact of those events on your well-being.
- Lend help and perform acts of kindness for others. It feels good to help other people and can offset any loneliness from studying alone.
- Spend time in nature; it can elevate your mood. Humans, like all other mammals, are meant to be outdoors.
- Get active and exercise, even on a bad day. Making the time for physical activity can help turn it around.
- Increase mindful awareness; find ways to be more present, in the moment, and aware of your feelings in real time (rather than after the fact).
Conclusion
Learning emotional intelligence and resilience is crucial because it equips us with the skills to effectively navigate strong and diverse emotions, establish and maintain healthier relationships, make informed decisions, and promote overall well-being. It will also strengthen your ability to adapt and recover from difficult situations, enhance leadership skills, facilitate effective decision-making, and ultimately improve the quality of care you provide. We hope you’ll explore and develop your EI and Emotional Resilience. After all, there’s nothing to lose and everything to gain!
Want to watch the full webinar? Visit osmosis.org/events to watch any of our past webinars.

Leave a Reply