|
Intentional
Dialogue: A Process for Dissolving Conflict
by Dawn J. Lipthrott, LCSW,
Director
The Dialogue
was developed to help couples and others create more conscious, intentional relationships,
and to thus create a better world. This
basic Dialogue process combines three essential elements. Many other communication
skills programs have at least one of the skills, but the combination is what provides
the safety so that you can truly understand and be understood your partner. Usually,
one partner hates the formal structure of this form of Dialogue, but the structure
is vital in making the process safe for both partners. Although it may sound strange
and feel awkward at first, the structure creates the opportunity for open, honest,
and non-defended communication.
Preparing
Before the Dialogue: The
person who wants the dialogue, the Sender, must ask for an appointment. The Receiver
agrees to give the appointment as soon as possible -- within a 24 hour period.
How
can the SENDER prepare? Think
about how you can initially state your frustration or concern in a 1-2 sentence
'bottom-line' statement. 'Bottom-lining' will help you stay focused on your issue
during the dialogue and will help your partner understand what is important to
you about that issue. After you give the bottom line, the focus shifts to you
and how you experience that inside. Remember
that you will also need to describe a picture of what it is like for you inside
when he or she does the frustrating behavior. What do you think when s/he does
it, how do you end up feeling? What is the story your brain makes up about your
partner's behavior or words. Also
remember that your frustration or concern is an opportunity for you and your partner
to heal, to create safety and intimacy, and to take another step toward wholeness. How
can the RECEIVER prepare? Take
at least a few moments to prepare yourself to create a safe and welcoming space
for your partner and his or her frustration/concern: Remind
yourself that although you may have said or done something (or did not say or
do something!) that triggered your partner's frustration, it is partially about
you -- and alot about pain in your partner's history. Remind
yourself that no matter what you may think or feel about the topic, your 'movie',
-- what you think, feel, believe about the situation -- belongs on the shelf when
you are the Receiver. Choose to put your movie aside for now. Focus on truly understanding
your partner's experience. (You may need to consciously do this several times
in a dialogue!) Step
1 - Mirror MIRRORING
means repeating back your partner's words so you both know you have actually heard
the Sender's words. Both the Sender and the Receiver have responsibilities during
Mirroring. The
SENDER'S Responsibility in Mirroring: Your
job as Sender is to help your partner understand your experience of an event.
Tell him or her what it is/was like for you. What thoughts and feelings does it
bring up for you? What hurt or angered you the most about it? The
Sender is also responsible for staying focused on the one issue that you express
in your opening 'bottom-line' statement. Other issues may come to mind during
the dialogue; save them for another time. Make
sure you connect your frustration or concern to your partner's behavior in stating
your bottom-line frustration. Instead of saying: "My frustration is that
you are so selfish," you might say something like: "I felt frustrated
when you. . . ." and state the behavior. The
Sender has the responsibility to make sure they are being mirrored accurately.
Let your partner know that they got what you said, or at least part of what you
said. (This also means that you have to pay attention to what you are saying!)
Giving that feedback let's helps the Receiver mirror it accurately. When
the Receiver has missed something, simply say: "That was most of it (part
of it) -- and the part you missed was . . . ." It does not help you or your
partner to criticize their efforts to mirror you! This is not a contest. You get
better at it as you practice. Say
it in small pieces to help the person mirroring, especially when your partner
is difficulty mirroring it accurately. The more volatile the issue, the more need
there is to go slowly and in bite-size pieces. The
RECEIVER'S Responsibility in Mirroring: When
you MIRROR, begin each time by saying "What I'm hearing you say is . . .
" Use your
partner's words even though it feels awkward at first. Do not add or subtract.
Mirror all that you can, even if it you know you did not get it all. Your partner
will give you what you missed. No matter what your partner says, keep mirroring!
If s/he asks a question, simply mirror it. You can answer when you switch if you
still want to. Each
time you mirror, ask, "Is there more about that?" You are inviting your
partner to share his or her experience with you -- even if it feels uncomfortable.
You are giving yourself and your partner an extraordinary gift! Continue
mirroring until your partner says that there is no more at this time.
Then
move to STEP 2 -- EXPRESS UNDERSTANDING. About
Paraphrasing. . . Changing
even a few words can dramatically change the meaning for you or for your partner.
Paraphrasing keeps you in your own language and thereby makes it much easier to
bring in your own 'movie.' Paraphrasing corrodes the quality of mirroring and
the safety of the dialogue over time. You are going for creating the ultimate
in SAFETY. Using your partner's words is a stretch for you but will help the process. What
Do I Do When I Start Getting Upset? Know
that your movie is creeping in. Acknowledge it internally. Then visualize putting
your 'movie' in a box and putting it on a shelf or the floor for the time being.
Use whatever image works for you to 'put away' your movie. You consciously choose
again and again to be intentional, to notice and set aside your own movie and
reactivity for right now. Step
2 - Summarize and Express Understanding:
SUMMARIZE: Before
communicating understanding, it is helpful for the Receiver to first summarize
the gist of what the Sender has said up to that point (or what has been said since
the last understanding and empathy in this dialogue). While it is not necessary
to repeat every detail in the summary, the Receiver should include the essence
of what the Sender said, continuing to use the Sender's 'language.' The
summary is not an interpretation or judgement about what the Sender has said!
For example, a Sender may have said, "I'm afraid you're going to criticize
me any time I make a decision because no matter what I say, it's wrong."
A judgement or interpretation would be something like, "So the essence of
what you are saying is that your insecurity gets in the way of you making a decision."
That is NOT what the person said -- it is an interpretation, not a summary. At
the end of the summary, before you express understanding, ask,
"Do I
have it all?" EXPRESS
UNDERSTANDING: This
means telling the Sender that their experience makes sense -- and why it makes
sense to you--why your partner, or anyone could possibly think and feel the way
they do after your action or words. Remember:
You do not have to agree in order
to express understanding well! You,
the Receiver need to step into the Sender's shoes to understand it from the Sender's
experience, not from your experience. If a stranger on an airplane told you the
same story that the Sender has just told, it would most likely make complete sense
to you -- because you have no history in it. You have little or no movie about
it. And that is the position from which you can validate. The
Receiver expresses understanding by saying after the summary,
"And what
you are saying makes sense to me because. . ."
and you explain why it
makes sense to you from the Sender's perspective. Example: The
Sender has said she is upset with you "because you were an hour late getting
home and when you arrived you walked over and turned on the TV and completely
ignored me. . . which is what you always do. . . you are insensitive and selfish
etc.." Your
side of the story may be that the boss 'called you in 10 minutes before you were
supposed to leave, you were angry and tired when you left and all you wanted was
some peace and quiet. And you only arrived 40 minutes late! You just spent the
weekend doing everything she wanted to do instead of watching football or playing
golf! She's never satisfied!' At
this point in the process, you put your whole story, and all those feelings associated
with it, on the shelf. You put yourself in the Sender's shoes. Your story can
be told when you are the Sender. Right now, your job is to continue to be a safe
and empty Container. So, no matter what your movie is, you put it on the shelf.
An understanding
in this example may sound something like this: "What you're saying makes
sense to me because I'm usually home by 6:00 and that's when you expected me.
I didn't call you to let you know what had happened. My being late left you hanging
about whether to have dinner without me or wait. You decided to go ahead and eat
with the kids but probably couldn't even really enjoy your dinner because you
were worried and frustrated that I was late and you didn't know what was going
on. I also know that any time I or one of the kids is late, you worry that we
may have had an accident. And then, when I arrived, I just sat in front of the
TV without any explanation and without acknowledging you or what you were feeling.
So I came across to you as being insensitive. It seemed like I wasn't interested
in how you felt and so it makes sense that you would see me as selfish."
In
working with couples, an Imago therapist would help the person discover wounding
in their past that is triggered by their partner's behavior. As both gain a clearer
picture of each other's underlying issues, they can begin to take specific steps
toward healing, growth, and wholeness for each person.
But,
what if it DOESN'T make sense? First,
check inside to see if your 'movie' is running -- if you are reacting, wanting
to justify, etc.. If so, put your movie away and try to understand it from your
partner's position. However,
sometimes you don't have enough information for it to make sense. If it does not
make sense, don't try to fake the validation. Simply say, "It doesn't yet
make sense to me -- help me understand. Then mirror until you do understand and
can express why. Step
3 - Empathize:
EMPATHY
means trying to put yourself in your partner's shoes in that experience and imagining
what that must have felt like for him/her. Communicating
understanding is an intellectual empathy. It comes from your head. It makes sense.
The empathy now comes from the place of feeling. Given your partner's experience
of that event, what is your best guess of how that made your partner feel when
it happened? And this is only a guess! Sometimes you will be right and sometimes
you will be completely wrong! But give it your best shot. The
Receiver says at the end of the expression of understanding,
" And the
way you might have felt is . . . ." In
the example above, the Receiver might have guessed "invisible, unimportant,
scared." When
the Receiver has made his or her guess, the Sender tells which ones are right
and any other feelings that the Receiver may have missed. For example, the Sender
may say, "Yes, I felt completely invisible and unimportant to you. I don't
know if I really felt scared. But I did feel hurt and really angry." The
Receiver simply mirrors and then asks, "Is there more about that?" If
the Sender says anything more, the whole process of Mirroring, Expressing Understanding,
and Empathizing begins again. Switching:
After
you mirror and there is no more, you again understand and empathize, until your
partner is finished for this particular time. Only when your partner is finished,
do you ask, "Can we switch?" When
you switch, take just a moment so that the Sender can prepare to consciously become
a Receiver as described earlier, put his or her movie away, in order to hear and
understand their partner's story. When
you switch, do not counter and argue details, or justify your actions. This is
not about assigning who is "right" and who is "wrong". Instead
you can communicate what it was like for you first to listen to your partner (what
feelings came up in you), and then if you want, what the actual event was / is
like for you. Sometimes, after you understand what it was like for your partner,
you don't even need to say your movie. Sometimes you may switch and say something
like, "Wow! I didn't even think about what you might experience with me being
late. I was so and caught up in my own frustration, I didn't think about what
it was like for you. I think I understand now, . . . " A
good phrase to start with is:
"As I listened to you just now and tried
to understand, what I felt inside was. . .(sad, relief, angry, caring -- whatever
combination of feelings fit for you.) A
workshop participant put it well when he said, "I would rather be close than
right." Being 'right' belongs to power struggle. Understanding and empathizing
helps you co-create a conscious, healing relationship. In
order to experience the power of the basic tool of the Dialogue, you need to practice,
practice, practice! Use
the Dialogue process for good things or for something that is important to you
that you want to tell your partner in addition to frustrations or hurts. You can
use it to explore something you are not sure of. You can use it to express to
your partner a frustration with someone at work or with a parent or friend. The
more you practice, the more natural it will become when you hit rough waters. You
will not do it perfectly, especially in the beginning. Approach it with the attitude
of a student eager to learn a new skill, a traveler eager to discover new things,
a healer eager to create safety, and a lover eager to love well. It is a process,
it takes time. But it can bring a whole new depth and dimension of intimacy, friendship
and real love to your relationship. As Nike says, "JUST DO IT!" Further
help in Intentional Dialogue: Copyright of the Dialogue Process as used in Imago
Relationship Therapy belongs to Harville Hendrix, Ph.D.
Courtesy of: Copyright
of this article about the dialogue process belongs to Dawn J. Lipthrott, LCSW. Read
Getting
the Love You Want : A Guide for Couples
: A Guide for Couples
by Harville Hendrix, Ph.D. you can order this and his other books including a
workbook that help in understanding yourself and others: Keeping the Love You
Find, and A Couple's Companion.
| 
