Guest Interview with Erin F. Darden
Welcome to episode twenty-one of Fractured, Not Broken: The Relationship Wellness Podcast.
I have the special honor of welcoming my guest Erin F. Darden to this episode. Erin is an attorney and certified emotional intelligence and life coach. She works primarily to coach women who are seeking to deepen their connections with their partners. She utilizes the principles of emotional intelligence (EQ) to guide her clients to a deeper understanding of relationships.
When I interviewed Erin, I noticed how wonderful her command is of EQ. She told me that she particularly focuses on the principle of self-awareness, which puts the emphasis on the individual. Before clients can start to communicate successfully with their partners, they need to take a deep look into the mirror to start the process of becoming better internally. As a relationship expert myself, I could not agree more.
I asked Erin about her path to becoming a relationship coach. She told me that she started her career as an attorney. However, she did not find the work to be as fulfilling as she once thought.
Her friend shared with Erin that she gives great advice to anyone who seeks her counsel, and that perhaps, guiding others might be her calling. At the same time, Erin was having difficulty understanding why her boss on the legal team seemed critical of her. Her confidence was shaken and she felt like she was walking on eggshells at her job.
Later, after enrolling in a program to train relationship coaches, she realized that her boss was simply trying to teach her in the spirit of improvement. Erin said that when she learned how to understand the point of view of the other person, relationships became less of a mystery to her.
Erin decided to switch careers to help other people learn how to navigate their relationships. She chose to specialize in romantic relationships. Married women want to learn how to be better in their life commitments and single women want to better understand their own needs. Of course, this can be interchangeable. What most women have in common, though, is that there are aspects of their relationships which they want to turn around and they need help to do so.
During the interview with Erin, I explained that a key ingredient in relationships is how partners respond to one another. Partners need to exercise courage and confidence, as they execute their choices in relationships. Then, they need to give that special someone the space to exercise their own choices. Together, if they work as a team in unison, couples can thrive.
On the other hand, if individuals are being treated negatively by their partners in their responses, the question becomes: “Am I wasting my time here?”
Erin agreed with me when I said that individuals in relationships should ask questions to know how their partners are seeing the relationships. I encourage folks to watch body language and listen closely to tone. If individuals are seeing red flags early on, they should not ignore what is right in front of them.
Erin and I discussed that, when individuals get upset with their partners, they may be emotional or they may be logical. Either way, let’s agree to pave a path to greater understanding through emotional intelligence.
Erin also said that individuals in relationships need to be able to understand their own emotions first before attempting to communicate them. As I say to those I coach, be smarter than the moment and remember not to say something that sorry will not fix.
In closing, I want to reiterate that relationships can be great and rewarding. They can also be confusing and frustrating. As a relationship coach, I am here to help you navigate the road of boundary-setting and to help you develop the courage to make hard choices.
If you know someone who needs assistance with individual concerns, romantic relationships, or non-romantic ones, I would love to set up a discovery call. During that call, we can determine if our goals are aligned and how I can help.
To learn more about me and RU Coached, please visit https://linktr.ee/rucoached
Author’s Note: Special thanks to Sylvia Blair, owner of Blair Copywriting and Communications, LLC, for her assistance in preparing this newsletter post.