DR. KELLY RABENSTEIN

In a post-COVID world—all you need is love. So says psychologist, corporate consultant, and teacher Dr. Kelly Rabenstein who adds author to her resume with her new book Psychological Secrets for Emotional Success (It’s All About Love).

“The greatest goal of humans is to connect,” says Rabenstein, “and emotional success is defined by that ability to make and maintain deep connections in our lives. We need to re-learn some of these skills as we continue to transition back into our ‘normal’ communities, offices, and schools.”  

She says, “The secret sauce in real connection is simply love. What’s at the core of empathy but love? Freud nailed it when he said that to be healthy, a person has to function in love and work.” 

DYNAMIC THERAPY
Rabenstein has spent years practicing person-centered, dynamic therapy in private practice and a wide range of clinical settings, from hospitals and prisons to schools and community centers, as well as consulting for numerous corporate clients seeking to improve productivity and overall workplace wellness through increased and enriched interpersonal communication. She’s also given a TEDx Talk on empathy and implicit bias. 

“Unconscious bias awareness training has been in vogue for a while, which is a great start. Education is the first step, but we must go further. It’s essential to take the awareness, use it in practice, internalize the messages, and work to be better and more empathetic and connected. That’s the path to emotional success.”

Emotional success became her North Star and was the inspiration for the book, which she jokes is “like a self-help book and a business EQ book had a baby.” Rabenstein started writing the book before the pandemic. “I wanted to take all the years of work I’d done and learned from clients, patients, and students and present it in an approachable and easy-to-digest format.” The pandemic made the book even more urgent. 

She says this is especially vital in our divided culture. “Many people have difficulty understanding aspects of the rapidly changing world. While some things may come easily, navigating shifting social groups, adapting to hybrid workplaces, or returning to traditional corporate culture or schools, have become a real challenge.”

“There is no other book on the market that combines work and home life and brings them both into focus,” says Rabenstein. “Emotional success is applicable at every level of our lives: at home, it brings increased inner knowledge and stronger relationships; at work, it deepens our connection to tasks and peers, which makes the organization more productive, and it can expand our relationship with the world at large, with an increased understanding of others and richer connectivity.”

The book blends personal self-help information with actionable corporate training know-how. “I wanted to take all the complex psychological information and make it accessible to everyone. The book can help foster connection for parents with their kids, between co-workers and partners.” To do that, each chapter features worksheets and easy-to-execute activities to put the information on its feet. She quips, “You can even do the activities at your book club in between glasses of wine.”

IN THE BEGINNING…
Rabenstein discovered her gift for forging connections early in life. As a child, she learned empathy during numerous hospitalizations, which surrounded her with individuals experiencing difficulties well outside her norm. It gave her first-hand access and led to a lifetime of curiosity and a desire to know everything about everyone around her. She joked, “I love asking probing, inappropriate questions, so if you’re ever standing next to me at a party, watch out.” 

For more information on Dr. Kelly Rabenstein,
visit kellydoc.com