Member Book review
T HE 9 STEPS TO EMOTIONAL FITNESS
A TOOL- KIT FOR LIFE IN THE 21rst CENTURY
Warren Redman

Reviewed by Suzanne Gosselin CMF
ACP International – Québec Chapter Member
November 2004

What struck me when I first picked-up Warren Redman’s book were the guidewords, “9 STEPS”, “TOOL-KIT”, “21rst CENTURY” on its front cover.

These words triggered, within me, a reflex of questions and first impressions. “Will this be another book on how to manage ourselves and others in these challenging times? Another “how to” manual? One more intellectual exercise maybe.

As I began reading, my first impressions faded and I was quickly captivated by how Warren Redman had blended structure into a process that gave intuition a major role. As I read on, I sensed, in his approach, an authentic faith in people’s potential for self-understanding and personal growth.

This was no indication of an intellectual exercise at all; it was becoming an emotional experience. An emotional experience by way of steps and stages well thought through and especially, felt through - a tool-kit with feeling.

As the process unfolded, it became clear that its main foundation was, “listening” - listening to ourselves and to each other. The most available power tool for all individuals, as Warren Redman puts it, is: “Listening Power”. He makes it clear that respecting and believing in people’s strengths and in their potential for growth begins with our own level of acceptance of who we are through our capacity to listen to ourselves and to each other.

Having listened to ourselves and dealt with our own feelings, fears, pain and other issues, makes it easier not to project this when listening to others.

Warren Redman clearly conveys that this is essential if we are to develop what he calls, “the art of getting out of the way when listening.”

In his book, he explains the concept of Inner Balance, its philosophy, and background. How it relates to some of the psychotherapeutic approaches of the past. He describes how he was, without knowing it, offering emotional fitness through his teachings. He found out that emotional fitness was the beginning of the Inner Balance approach. Over the years in running courses he discovered Inner Balance, or as he adds, “perhaps it discovered me”.

At this point, I was well into the flow of the 9 steps for self-discovery, taking time to reflect and recognize my own life experiences. Experiences that have made me feel good and sometimes not so good and why this was.

Going forward, Warren Redman introduces the reader to people that have moved ahead by hearing, understanding and accepting themselves. He relates how these individuals could make sense of who they were; what they really wanted and needed through the Inner Balance approach. How they took decisions that were in line with who they found out they were, having discovered that self-knowledge lead to better emotional fitness.

He is generous with his own life experiences and shares them with the reader on an emotional level that conveys how he has integrated superbly what he teaches.

In his concluding chapter he invites the reader to a deeper level of understanding of what is Emotional Fitness. He explains how he is eager to teach Inner Balance to others who are so inclined and only then will it be possible to bring Emotional Fitness to thousands rather than the hundreds he is now able to reach. To this end, he clearly describes what is required to be learned to become an Emotional Fitness Instructor. At this point I am convinced that I want to look into this possibility for myself.

As I set down his book, I am especially touched by a quote on the back cover that states: “THE JOURNEY INTO OUR EMOTIONS, INTO “INNER SPACE”, IS POSSIBLY THE LAST GREAT JOURNEY LEFT FOR HUMANKIND”. - Warren Redman

Suzanne Gosselin CMF - Career Counsellor and Human Rights professional for over 10 years. Has her private practise since 1998 and works with individuals having to make key career decisions. She also provides training and guidance on Human Rights issues such as physiological harassment in the workpl

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Member Book Review
The 9 Steps to Emotional Fitness: a Tool-Kit for Life in the 21st Century Warren Redman

Reviewed by
Cynthia Kivland - ACP International - Chicago Chapter Member
and
Katarzyna Ganko- Intern from Poland working with Cynthia at Career Performance Strategies in Chicago
February 2005

 

For the past two decades we have been witnessing an emerging movement towards the study and recognition of our emotional brain, owing much to the work of Daniel Goleman and Joseph LeDoux. In the “The 9 Steps to Emotional Fitness: a Tool-Kit for Life in the 21st Century,” author Warren Redman expands on the importance of emotional intelligence and introduces a process of Inner Balancing, aimed at helping us become emotionally fit.

As Redman explains, this 9-staged process is rooted in Freud’s psychoanalytical approach, Jung’s Universal Symbols, Rogers’s Person Centered approach, Eric Berne’s Transactional Analysis, Fritz Perls’s Gestalt therapy and finally Eugene Heimler’s Human Social Functioning. It is “the synthesis of the best of those teachings,” says the author, “laced with [his] experience of life,” along with his 30-year career as a therapist and personal development trainer. Inner Balancing, adds Redman, is about “self-discovery, transformation and manifestation of who we really are,” which will enable us to live a life of personal fulfillment”.

Consequently, the reader is invited to experience each of the 9 steps slowly and reflectively. Beginning with Listening Power, we are guided through the remaining eight Inner Balancing stages entitled: Learning from Experience, Lifescale, Time Capsule, Group Dialogue, Storytelling, Dreamtime, the Mirror and finally Connections.

All of the stages contain a succinct theoretical background, an exercise or a course of action of varying difficulty and time investment, followed by debriefing and further insight. You will be asked to improve your listening skills, re-discover your life experiences as you build your portfolio and assess how many satisfactions, and frustrations you perceive to be present in your life.

After you have reflected on your emotional balance, you will be challenged with an invitation to create connections between your emotional (child), physical (adolescent) and cognitive (adult) selves to become your “essential self.” Towards the end of your self-discovery journey, Redman encourages you to “access your own inner stories”, explore your dreams, examine your authentic self in the mirror, and finally, integrate all the self learning at a connection stage.

Throughout this voyage, the author provides the reader with various tools, frameworks and formats to facilitate the completion of each stage. In fact, by offering the tool-kit like a detailed guidebook, Redman makes it feasible for us to travel this self-discovery journey on our own. However, he will also emphasize that we will benefit most if accompanied by a mentor, a friend or ideally, an Emotional Fitness Coach. After all, one’s exercise for Emotional Fitness, just like any workout, will be enhanced with support and guidance.

Written in a comprehensible and counseling manner, Redman’s book reads well thanks to featured stories of four individuals, with whom the author has worked using the Inner Balancing process. What is more, throughout this emotional practice, Redman recalls his own self-discovery journey and in addition surprises the reader with thought-provoking and insightful maxims offered at the bottom of each page.

While “The 9 Steps to Emotional Fitness” is designed as a self-development kit, it can also serve as a coaching resource book when supporting other individuals. Coaches, counselors and mentors will find most of the exercises and frameworks easy to use with their clients, individually or in a group setting. Additionally, Redman’s Inner Balancing process may also prove really helpful when dealing with such subtle areas as dreams.

Warren Redman won the 2004 Counseling Book Award from the Canadian Counseling Association, a high honor recognizing an outstanding coaching or counseling resource. Members of ACP International can benefit from the book in at least two ways. They may use it for their self-development purpose as well as with their clients.

Since the Inner Balancing process enhances self-awareness, which is the basis for life and work fulfillment, some of the steps may be incorporated into career counseling. The first 3 stages will offer paradigms that can be used as they are or easily adapted to meet the client’s needs. The Listening Power Framework will come in handy when dealing with client’s work relationships. The Learning from Experience stage will help individuals to reflect upon, acknowledge and possibly reevaluate their work experiences. The Lifescale step may be used to evaluate frustrations and satisfaction a client is experiencing at the current job. Finally, Group Dialogue may be utilized in team building or communication training.

Katarzyna Ganko B.A., M.A. is an intern from Poland working with Cynthia. Her goal is to provide proactive career development services in Poland, with a focus on women and emotional intelligence. Katarzyna has received both of her degrees from University of Warsaw, of the former in Teaching English as a Foreign Language and the latter in American Studies. She is currently completing her Master’s degree in Cross-cultural Psychology at Warsaw School of Advanced Social Psychology.

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Emotional Fitness Institute Inc.
A Tool-kit for Life
Phone: 506-351-0645 or toll free 1-866-310-3348(EFit)

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