(Part 1) Why are even simple topics often difficult to discuss, especially if people have different viewpoints? Underlying many confusions and animosities in human interactions in couples and groups is a form of unconscious emotional communication that implies and evokes strong reactions in ways that usually fall outside our awareness. We suddenly feel triggered, trapped, or kidnapped into an emotional reality that we had not intended. This kind of communication may be positive or idealized, as when we fall in love. More often, though, it is negative and agitating as when we feel we MUST protect ourselves by insisting on the faults of another, either someone we know or a stranger who carries an emotional meaning for us.
In the arena of entangled and often painful human relationships, the mother-daughter relationship may be paramount. If you think about it for a moment,...
We all recognize Real Dialogue when we encounter it: people speak only for themselves and listen, really listen, to others. In times of conflict,...
Most of the time, we are walking around talking to ourselves in a manner that strongly affects how we feel about ourselves and others....