Skills to overcome conflict situations

A series of skills to help overcoming conflict situations are the following ones:

  • Quick stress relief: the ability to quickly relieve stress in the moment.
  • Emotional awareness: the ability to remain comfortable enough with your emotions to react in constructive ways, even in the midst of a perceived attack.
  • Be positive and well-meaning in relationships, leaving behind prejudices and negative thoughts.
  • Reward positive behavior while criticize negative. Set limits.
  • Forgive anyone who regrets and tries to regain your confidence.

Healthy and unhealthy ways of managing and resolving conflict include the following:

Unhealthy responses to conflict:

Healthy responses to conflict:

An inability to recognize and respond to the things that matter to the other person

The capacity to empathize with the other person’s viewpoint

Explosive, angry, hurtful, and resentful reactions

Calm, non-defensive, and respectful reactions

The withdrawal of love, resulting in rejection, isolation, shaming, and fear of abandonment

A readiness to forgive and forget, and to move past the conflict without holding resentments or anger

An inability to compromise or see the other person’s side

The ability to seek compromise and avoid punishing

Feeling fearful or avoiding conflict; expecting a bad outcome

A belief that facing conflict head on is the best thing for both sides