What I've found - in high emotion situations people need express that emotion before they start listening, and they need to know that emotion is being heard. T

What I've found - in high emotion situations people need express that emotion before they start listening, and they need to know that emotion is being heard. This is tough. Sometimes people need a lot of prodding to start expressing a strong emotion because it invites judgement. It's kind of the end of artifice - 'this is who I am and what I'm really feeling' Also, I find it exhausting to deal with high emotion. But once that's over with, folks are more open to hearing the 'feeling statements' and observations. -------------------- And can't resist old NVC joke - Person 1 - "I'm really mad! This is so unfair!" Person 2 - "I FEEL your anger" Person 1 - "Everything's so chaotic, I don't know what to do!" Person 2 - "I FEEL your confusion" Person 1 - "I've got a lot of shit going down in my life!" Person 2 - "I FEEL your shit going down!"