Compassionate Communication Center of Ohio

It can be the hardest to get along with those closest to us. We care deeply, the stakes are high, and we live in close proximity. We can fall into treating each other with less civility – and this can be amplified by holiday stressors like strained budgets, festive expectations, and time with that one family member we might find particularly challenging. The higher the stakes are perceived to be, the more forceful their messages can become, and it can be hard to hear. 

So how can we listen to hard-to-hear messages without getting critical, defensive, frustrated, or reacting in other ways that drain or disconnect us?

In From Fight to Delight Over the Holidays, you can experience a way to: 

• Identify 4 Ds of Disconnection in family communications
• Unpack hard to hear messages into underlying needs
• Take criticism less personally
• Shift a repeat conversation in more productive directions

We don’t have to give up what matters to us, nor do our family members. Instead, we start by connecting with what they are actually trying to tell us (but didn’t because they didn’t know how to). 

Included: 4Ds worksheet. Elke Haggerty’s postcard-sized feelings and needs list.