Two Questions to Build Bridges in Highly-Charged Conversations

Marriage counseling—especially the initial sessions—can often be highly-charged. There is deeply-rooted misunderstanding. Both people want to be heard and validated. Both are hurting, and it is difficult to find a way forward. Sound familiar?

While completing my Masters coursework, I took a class on marriage counseling that incorporated principles from the Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) approach. A key idea in EFT is to help couples in crisis start to talk about their fears and longings. These very vulnerable subjects can shift the conversation from defensiveness and accusation to humanness and connection.

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Avoiding the Temptation to Over-Edit

Ah, the red pen. The rush of power! Whether or not you work in communications, you may have the task of proofreading, editing, or fleshing out someone else’s work. But it can be difficult to know exactly how much to change. Here are three questions to help you revise others’ writing in a way that strengthens your relationships, creates a collaborative atmosphere, and ultimately produces stronger work for your organization.

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Capturing a Client’s Voice

Capturing the subtlety of a subject’s voice—their tone, phrasing, quirks and repeated words or ideas—is the chief task of a ghostwriter. We may have all of the key information, but if a reader cannot “hear” our client in the text, we’ve missed the mark.

Here are three questions to help strengthen the client’s voice in your writing: 1) Am I embracing the client’s most valued points? 2) Can I hear the client say it this way? 3) Are there areas where I need more information or clarification?

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