Relationships are both beautiful and complex, often revealing our best and most challenging traits.
Whether you’re navigating an intimate or work relationship, conflict is inevitable. Moments of hurt feelings or disagreements can feel unpleasant, but they don’t have to be.
Therapy provides a space to understand your reactions and learn new communication strategies to manage others' responses better. This process can help achieve resolutions that do not pit one person against another.
Bringing your relationship to therapy creates an opportunity to untangle deeply ingrained patterns, fostering growth, healing, and deeper connections. Through this work, you can strengthen your bond with yourself and those around you.
Noteworthy Podcasts
January 10th, 2025
This American Life: Try A Little Tenderness
In this podcast, Ira meets two sisters, Mae (6) and Johanna (8), who get into a fight and learn a lesson about turning the other cheek. They brilliantly teach us how to manage conflict through respect and understanding their impact on each other. Here is a snippet:
Ira Glass: What had happened? How did these two little kids work this out so quickly? Well, Mae and Johanna explained, it went down like this. Mae marched herself to Johanna's room and banged on the door. Johanna opened the door. And Mae has been working on not giving in to her anger, not taking the low road, but instead, using words, saying what she wants, which she did now.Mae: I said, I want to punch you in the face, and that's the only way I can calm down.Ira Glass: And then, Johanna, what did you say?Johanna: Um, I want to kind of think about that.[IRA LAUGHS]Um, you can punch me in the butt instead.…But it wasn't just Johanna who led them to a quick, peaceful resolution. Both girls agree that if Mae hadn't asked for what she wanted at the door, if she just punched Johanna, Johanna would have punched back. It would have escalated. Johanna admits she's not always so calm and reasonable with Mae. But this time, it was clear how to handle her, and Johanna knew exactly what to do.Johanna: And she got what she wanted, so I think that made her happy.Ira Glass: I think that's true. Yeah. Like, you didn't say no to her.Johanna: Yeah. I've been here for six-- I've been with her for six years of my life. I know her pretty well. I've known her for her whole life, so I get to watch a whole entire movie about her in my mind.Ira Glass: And so you know what to do.Johanna: Yeah.