Responses to "Cutting to the chase"

Last week's newsletter about "Cutting to the chase in an argument" brought several responses. Some are below. If you did not see the newsletter, you can read it here.

I enjoyed reading your reflection.  Thank you for your work.

My husband and I are both therapists and ministers. We have participated in a good bit of marriage therapy, both giving and receiving. When our own arguments are becoming unproductive, we initiate "timed sessions";

One person takes 1 or 2 minutes, then there is silence for the same amount of time and the other responds in the same amount of time, followed by the silence. This prevents interruptions and contains the content to make it more manageable. 

It works for us; 34 years of marriage!

Cathy

Cathy Hasty, BSN, M.Div., Th.M., LPCS, BCC 

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Jerry, this is great! I rarely have conflicts with people (except our senators and the "president," of course), but I love the image of sitting on the same side of the table confronting the problem instead of seeing each other as the problem.

I think that one image, when introduced as early as possible, can radically change the process of conflict resolution in almost any situation. It's brilliant.  Thank you.

Carol