Affect Labeling with Doug Noll

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In this episode of The Optimized Mind, Dr. Kate talks with Doug Noll, peacemaker and award-winning author. The discussion focuses on Doug’s inspiring story with emphasis on his transition from a trial attorney to peacemaker and expert in the concept of affect labeling. Central themes which emerge through this powerful discussion include the neuroscience of peace and conflict; the power of affect labeling or listening to emotions and not words to calm people quickly and effectively, the power of teaching these skills in prisons and across domains and the differences between emotional intelligence and emotional competence. The discussion also focuses on Doug’s book Deescalate which takes a deep dive into the concept and application of affect labeling.

Doug Noll was born partially deaf, nearly blind, crippled, and super smart. (All buzzkills for the girls in his early years.) However, he went on to graduate from Dartmouth College, earned his law degree, and became a ferocious civil trial lawyer for 22 years. Then, Doug went back to school to become a peacemaker. Since he left his lucrative law practice in 2000, Doug has devoted his life to understanding human conflict. His groundbreaking work in de-escalating anger in potentially violent confrontations has transformed the lives of thousands.

Doug is an award-winning author of four books. His latest, De-Escalate, was published in September of 2017 and is now available in four languages and in its second printing. Doug’s work carries him from international training to helping people resolve deep interpersonal and ideological conflicts. He is the co-founder of Prison of Peace, in which he has spent the last 12 years teaching murderers in maximum-security prisons to be peacemakers and mediators. In 2012, Doug was honored by California Lawyer Magazine as California Attorney of the Year.