Emotional Intelligence- Shadow Work in Disguise

Shadow work seems to be a new buzzword in social media circles. Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube are all buzzing with the concept.

Yet, the notion of shadow work is often dismissed by psychologists and therapists alike,

pushed aside as a relic—philosophical musings from a man born a century ago. His work

was criticized for its lack of measurable substance, something science has long struggled to

tolerate.

You see, science, reasoning, and the “Enlightenment” promised to liberate us from myth,

superstition, and religion as ways of understanding the world. With science, everything

could be measured, proven, and known with certainty.

But somewhere along the way, reasoning became what it once opposed: a new form of

dogma.

If the numbers say it’s true, then it must be true.

Echoing an older voice:

“It’s written, therefore it is.”

But let’s return to the point.

Shadow work, as proposed by Carl Jung, involves bringing unconscious material—

memories, emotions, and thoughts—into awareness. This requires engagement. And

engagement, more often than not, is messy.

Naturally, we resist it.

We look for cleaner solutions. Faster ones. A pill. A technique. A moment of mindfulness

that might bypass the discomfort—if only it were that simple.

Then came Emotional Intelligence (EI). A concept as old as human experience, yet

popularized in modern psychology by Daniel Goleman in the mid-1990s.

Goleman described EI through five core elements: self-awareness, emotional regulation,

motivation, empathy, and social skill.

At its foundation lies self-awareness.

And I would argue—this is where shadow work quietly re-enters through the back door.

EI self-awareness asks us to recognize our emotions in real time and understand our

patterns across situations.

Shadow work asks us to confront the parts of ourselves we have hidden, denied, or

repressed.

The overlap is not subtle.

Both point us toward our triggers.

In Emotional Intelligence, a trigger becomes a signal:

Pause. Name the emotion. Understand it.

“I feel upset because my integrity is being questioned.”

In shadow work, that same trigger—especially when charged with projection—becomes a

map:

A reflection of something within that has yet to be acknowledged.

Both frameworks, in their own language, reveal the same truth:

Our strongest reactions are rarely about what is happening around us,

but about what is happening within us.

So what?

Why does this matter?

Because perhaps Carl Jung was onto something.

And for one reason or another, his work was pushed to the margins—much like Sigmund

Freud was once criticized, yet still paradoxically placed on a pedestal.

A tension of opposites.

We revere the names,

but dilute the depth of their ideas.

The truth is simple:

We repress.

We avoid.

We deny.

Call it shadow work.

Call it emotional intelligence.

Call it whatever you like.

What matters is that you do the work.

Because at the end of the day, the ancient inscription at the Temple of Apollo at Delphi still

holds:

Know thyself.

And perhaps…

There is a tool that bridges both worlds.

The Johari Window?

Stay tuned.

-Marco M