The Home Page Network

Conflict is not new to us, our communities, or our world. Just tune into the regular news of today. But when we decide to handle conflict in our families healthily, we are aiding the world.

Dr. Gerald Cerrone of Laurel Health Centers recently joined Home Page Vice President Sara Vogt to discuss the importance of dealing with conflict in a caring, respectful manner, even in the heat of battle.

In this broadcast, Jerry covered the Five Secrets of Effective Communications, represented by the acronym EAR.

E REPRESENTS EMPATHY, AND THE FIRST THREE SECRETS:

The Disarming Technique:
1. Find some truth in what the other person is saying, even if it seems totally unreasonable or unfair.
2. Put yourself in the other person’s shoes and try to see the world through his or her eyes.
– Thought Empathy (TE) Paraphrase the other person’s words
– Feeling Empathy (FE): Acknowledge how the other person is probably feeling based on what she or he said.
– Inquiry (IN): Ask gentle, probing questions to learn more about what the other person is thinking and feeling.

A REPRESENTS ASSERTIVENESS FOURTH SECRET

“I Feel” Statements (IF) express your own ideas and feelings in a direct, tactful manner. Use”I feel” statements, such as I feel upset, rather than “you” statements such as “your wrong!” or You’re making me furious!”

R REPRESENTS RESPECT THE FIFTH AND LAST SECRET

Affirmation (AF): Convey an attitude of respect, even if you feel frustrated or angry with the other person., even in the heat of battle.

Sara’s note on personal conflict:

Over the Thanksgiving break, our family ate many meals together, which was an excellent time to catch up. While eating, the four adults also had their phones represented at the dinner table. We looked at each other and talked about changing our phone use at the table in the future. But the problem (conflict) arose when we disagreed on what that would look like going forward. We are all in jobs where our phones play a significant role in staying connected. We are now looking at sites about letting go of the phones at the dinner table, which I have included below to help us consider what we aill do in the future! We will let you know becuase our relationships are our priority!

According to a 2019 SellCell survey, 25.6 percent of people in the United States use smartphones or tablets during family dinners. So, this look at the cell phone during dinner time may benefit us all.

https://community.thriveglobal.com/why-no-phones-dinner-table-connect-focus-present-distraction/