How Do I Dismantle an Atomic Bomb-versation? Part 4

It’s extraordinary how awful a conversation can be, even, or perhaps especially, with someone you care for deeply. They say it takes 2 to tango, and if that’s true, then it should only take one to not tango, right? Are there language tools a person can use to steer a conversation away from the cliff edge and back towards productive, healthy dialogue? Are any of the language tools I tend to use injecting disrespect and fear into my conversations without me even realising it?

In this series, Cora and I look at the phrases people tend to use that typically make conversations worse. We share our own stories of failure and success and offer suggestions for responding to these kinds of phrases in ways that typically ease anxiety, creating peace instead of fueling the fire. We also offer alternative, healthier phrases to use when we’re experiencing pain, frustration, or anger. 

In this episode, the 4th of 4, we go through a list of phrases that we’ve identified as being “Fear and judgment in self-defence”.