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Mumsnet has not checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. If you need help urgently or expert advice, please see our domestic violence webguide and/or relationships webguide. Many Mumsnetters experiencing domestic abuse have found this thread helpful: Listen up, everybody

How/where did you learn to manage conflict?

62 replies

InnocenceAndExperience · 07/11/2014 22:09

I'm rubbish at it. Get overly emotional, stressed, worked up in advance.

I see other dealing with difficult situations so much better.

Did you learn in your family, with friends? At work?

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GarlicNovember · 09/11/2014 13:18

OK, so is it possible the hand-wringing anxiety is about making a wrong decision and looking foolish?

This is an absurdly compressed version of the sales training I used to deliver. We don't have three months of full-time contact to work on it Grin

Attention
Interest
Desire
Conviction
Action

Attention:
This is for establishing a communicative atmosphere. Narcissists generally appreciate a compliment on their appearance and a little question about it - 'You look great! Is that a new haircut?' type of thing. As your person ('P') arranged the meeting, perhaps approve of his venue choice.

Say you're really pleased you ('we') are going to find a way to sort things out. Get him to agree ("You must be, too" or similar.)

Interest:
Engage P in the process. Say it's a difficult situation for both of you/everyone, and you respect his views or his input is obviously vital.. Ask him to explain what he's thinking. Listen very carefully. Feed back his points to show you've understood. Establish common ground: there will be some, and you should clearly indicate which bits you agree with. Don't disagree with anything at his stage, just listen properly. Make it very obvious you understand his particular concerns, and that you respect his viewpoint.

Desire:
The purpose of your meeting is to get the problem resolved. Begin by expressing the solution in a way that fits his perspective. If, say, you want Mum to go into a specialist facility and he wants her to stay at home, the 'solution' might be: We need to figure out how best to keep Mum safe and comfortable, bearing in mind her health and cost considerations. Ideally, he should be enthusiastically agreeing to this (or at least have stopped wringing his hands!) Itemise the considerations (not proposed solutions), getting firm agreement at every point.

Conviction:
This is the longest part. Go through your 'desire' points, discussing how the various available solutions fulfil them. Aim to build a pros and cons list for each of the points. Don't be afraid to admit to cons from your solutions - each of these will be a "we need to find an answer to that", not an "argh!"
It's possible there is a third way, or an add-on to your preferred solution, which will successfully resolve each of the cons.

Refer to P's wisdom, compassion, knowledge, whatever her relishes in himself, while seeking his input at every step. Get agreement all the way through. If he's agreeing to your statement "You've got a point, the care home can't provide X, can it?", that's better than a negative response. You want him to be constantly agreeing with you, while you move the argument by stages towards your solution.

Use your evidence to support your arguments, and also give attention to his. While presenting your evidence, make sure you keep showing how it answers the concerns raised in 'desire'. Ask P, "You can agree that this provides X, yes?" and "Do you feel this is close to what you wanted?" - getting agreement as often as possible.

If he goes into long explanations, shut up. Listen carefully and interject with understanding or agreement wherever you can.

Action:
You must come away with a defined action, even if it's not a signed contract or whatever you're aiming for. He might need to seek professional advice: specify what it is, and exactly when you'll meet again to discuss it in detail. He might be all emotionally discombobulated, in which case your action will be to soothe him, arrange an exact time to meet again, and offer to supply any more information he wants.

Love-bomb him when you part. If he's stressed, buy him a coffee & cake. Tell him what a fantastically constructive meeting it's been, how much you appreciate his thoughts, and so on. Don't forget to pay him a personal compliment again. Say you'll ring him in the evening/tomorrow/Monday, and do it.

... Is this type of thing likely to work with your P?

InnocenceAndExperience · 09/11/2014 15:26

Wow, garlic that is amazingly useful.

I'm not sure love bombing him will come over as entirely sincere after previous conversations which have included some choice expletives on my part.

However I think the tactic of getting him to do as much of the 'inputting' work as possible could be effective - usually he contradicts everything I say or comes up with something to discredit me and any evidence I present.

On my part I think I allow the baggage to get in the way right from the get-go - so I am aiming to look at the problem completely afresh.

OP posts:
TheDogsMissingBollock · 09/11/2014 15:33

Marking my place

GarlicNovember · 09/11/2014 16:00

Oh, good, IAE, I'm so pleased you find it helpful! Maybe keep the love-bombing down to a smattering of love gunfire, then Wink

Phineyj · 09/11/2014 19:24

Do either of you have power of attorney for your mother? I wonder if you should consider having the meeting with a solicitor present. They must be used to this kind of thing. I realise it may be too expensive, but in the long run, if this person will behave more constructively with a professional present, it could be worth it.

www.ageuk.org.uk/products/financial-products-and-services/legal-services/

buffythemuffinslayer · 09/11/2014 19:55

Honestly, and I wish I'd learned before, but it was work. A combination of day to day, a lot of psychometric work, and courses on being your best and mindfulness. It didn't come naturally as my tendencies are to compete hard, or avoid.

As your situation is personal, I suppose preparation, self-talk and mindfulness would be most useful. I do self-talk and deep breathing before going to stay with my essentially decent but ridiculously set in her ways grandmother. Spend most of it thinking, 'regulate your breathing!!'

springydaffs · 09/11/2014 19:59

I suppose a key component is to use 'I' messages = 'when you/I feel'. INstead of 'YOU do this/that', which is attacking. Might be true, but attacking.

ime though, that technique is useless with a narc because narcs are not interested in the impact of their behaviour. Amazingly, I had a long discussion, by phone, with my narc ex (therefore, heavily-defended narc ex). It was about our kids and had to be done. I wrote down everything he said ("I may as well write this down so we can be clear what we're both saying") and, unemotionally, relayed back to him what he had said. I could feel the relief that he felt he had been lauded as a king listened to. It was a resounding success. Pure chance, mind, bourne out of immense frustration on my part that we couldn't make headway with the simplest thing.

I recently had a very difficult 'discussion' with a friend. She started to argue and attack, I said 'are we arguing? because I'm not interested in arguing, I'm here to discuss'. It worked a treat. I suppose if you keep everything impersonal, unemotional, it actually feels quite safe for all concerned.

all very well with people in general but with family a tonne of history can whoosh into place the minute we drift towards conflict. Perhaps try the writing down thing, like taking minutes. Keep any frustration/sarcasm/exasperation out of it. Good luck!

springydaffs · 09/11/2014 20:03

oh, and I learnt it by doing classes eg assertiveness, boundary work, and practise/experience (= too many experiences where I lost it and got more hurt. I wanted to find a way to approach it effectively, keeping myself safe). I certainly didn't learn it from my catfighting family!

lotsofcheese · 09/11/2014 20:34

Very interesting thread; thanks for starting it, OP.

My parents never argued, at all. And were very kind, caring, thoughtful people. It has left me unprepared for conflict in relationships.

Throughout my adult life I have had to upskill in boundaries & assertiveness. It is very much work in progress, as I tend to let resentment build instead of dealing with it.

InnocenceAndExperience · 09/11/2014 22:24

Springy I have tried the 'when you/I feel' approach with him and its hopeless. The approach works well for me in other situations so I don't think I'm doing it wrong.

He does have some very 'NPD' moments. I get the sense that he couldn't give a fig how I feel most of the time and I've witnessed him behaving the same way to others.

OP posts:
InnocenceAndExperience · 09/11/2014 22:26

buffy I have learned a lot working with colleagues who are strong on mindfulness. Its been very helpful in lots of situations.

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InnocenceAndExperience · 10/11/2014 22:43

Oh Crap.

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springydaffs · 11/11/2014 00:29

What? Confused

InnocenceAndExperience · 11/11/2014 07:40

Feeling pretty depressed about how my meeting went.

My brother decided to inform me by text less than two hours before the meeting that he had invited someone 'independent' to listen in on the meeting. 'Independent' turned out to mean a school-gate friend.

I went ahead with the meeting because we need to make decision but I felt manipulated. I said I would have preferred it if he had a) asked me b) given me an option to suggest someone of my choice, and left it with that.

However, she wasn't too bad and she picked up pretty quickly that my brother says a lot, takes no responsibility and doesn't do much, so he went away with some actions.

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springydaffs · 11/11/2014 09:48

Result!

Painful for you but tbh it sounds like that's how it's always going to go with him? Amazing his sidekick turned out to see things from your side! Or, rather, the sensible side. ime it is rare for anyone to see beyond the poor-pity, charm etc of someone like your brother.

Dust yourself down, it was a good result. You got to say you weren't happy with how he went about it, which is the best we can hope for imo Flowers

GarlicNovember · 11/11/2014 12:18

Totally agree with Springy - you were 'heard' (by the friend), he got his feeling of control, and you came away with actions. Well done Grin

Fishcotheque · 11/11/2014 15:00

Work in progress here too. My parents didn't argue conventionally. Things would build up and my mum would bottle it up until...BAM!!! Doors slammed so hard you'd feel your spine tremble. Dinner thrown at the wall. Things smashed. Walking out.
So to me conflict is all or nothing. I can do passive and I can do aggressive. I find it hard to do adult but I'm trying.
I made a point with OH to argue freely if needed and we do. We discuss things, we disagree and we get annoyed but because it's normal and frequent no one slams doors. We always talk about it afterwards too. My parents never did-after the door slamming you would be blanked for a bit then it was as if nothing happened.
Determined to do better by my DC.

Sylvana · 11/11/2014 17:50

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

springydaffs · 11/11/2014 18:56

It may be 'the silent treatment', which is a form of abuse.

I'm never sure about this one, though. It could be that she gets so emotional she can't speak. Not necessarily sulking, either.

It's torture to be on the end of, though.... if you let it. erm, what would I do in a similar situation? I'd probably walk away, but that's my mo these days, I can't be bothered with hassle (had enough of it in my life, thanks). I'd not be waiting for her once she'd thawed. Perhaps giving it no attention will rob her of the power she's excerting (if, in fact, she is)?

InnocenceAndExperience · 11/11/2014 19:49

The silent treatment is something I'm guilty of. It is probably awful for others but I can just find myself shutting down if I think I won't be heard, and I experienced a lot of not being 'heard' as a child.

OP posts:
Ragwort · 11/11/2014 19:57

I think getting older helps .................. you learn to accept things without wanting to be 'right' all the time. My DH and I had a 'disagreement' this weekend, we were both in the wrong but years ago I would have stressed, cried, insisted on apology etc etc - now I just sleep on it and shrug it off the next day.

An expression I heard (perhaps on Mumsnet?) was 'do you want to be kind, or in the right?'. That has made an impact on me, yes, I want to be the 'bigger person'. But perhaps I didn't think like that years ago when I was young, fiesty and ambitious? Grin.

GarlicNovember · 11/11/2014 20:09

I can just find myself shutting down if I think I won't be heard, and I experienced a lot of not being 'heard' as a child.

I did that for a lot of my life - outside of work; I was fine in situations I'd been trained for!

I didn't realise what I was doing until the moderators in a group therapy activity commented that I let the bossy people take over, when they'd expected me to be one of the leaders. I started to correct it by using "stop phrases" like 'No, that doesn't work [for me]' and 'Why not look at it another way?' I'm not yet sure I'd take charge if I were on that course again ... but I don't go all quiet & grumpily submissive any more.

I find 'Is it more important to be right or kind?' a useful criterion when picking my battles, Ragwort Grin

InnocenceAndExperience · 11/11/2014 20:24

'do you want to be kind, or in the right?'

Really useful to bear in mind when relatively trivial matters escalate. After all, everyone thinks they are in the right!

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springydaffs · 11/11/2014 22:54

The trouble with having a toxic childhood is you (I) can sometimes have no idea what is and what isn't 'trivial'. I can strain at gnats and blithely let elephants right on through.

I actually panic, thinking about a troubling situation 'is this serious?' because I'm just not sure. My default is (or has been, tbf) to fight, which is a far less socially acceptable default than going quiet, for the record. It's exhausting and also tiresome for all concerned.

InnocenceAndExperience · 11/11/2014 23:03

I agree springy. It's learned behaviour, after all.

I totally trust my instincts, but I struggle sometimes with managing my reactions. Some people seem to keep the 'churn' contained but its like I've got a washing machine in my tummy!

OP posts: