9 Steps to Managing Conflict, #8: Try Active Listening
Active listening is just a great tool. I just love it.
It’s where you feed back to someone what they just said and focus on their feeling. In some listening exercises, the challenge is to simply feed back to your partner exactly what he or she said. It’s a good test of how well you’re listening to your partner.
However, in this exercise, you want to challenge yourself to focus on, What is my partner feeling?
This focus helps you to empathize better with your partner. Empathy is when you can put yourself in someone else’s shoes. It’s not just compassion, it’s saying to your partner, “Hey I’ve been there too.”
And here’s a great side effect of empathy: the more you can express it for your partner, the more willing and likely your partner is to listen to you. Couples therapy is a great space to practice this skill.
Please: try this one at home!
If you’d like to learn more about how to manage conflict in your relationship, call me.
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