by Elizabeth Williamson | 16 Dec, 2023
There is lots of potential for conflict over the Christmas period: the pressures of getting it right on the day, stressed relatives, heightened emotions and managing a diary full of work, business and family events.
by Elizabeth Williamson | 20 Nov, 2023
Managing the different stresses, strains and perceptions between personal relationships and business partnerships in a family (or value-driven) business can be challenging. It is not uncommon to find yourself stumbling through difficult times trying to clarify...
by Elizabeth Williamson | 5 Oct, 2022
We must address our discomfort with difficult emotions like anger, envy, resentment and revenge to effectively manage conflict. We create trouble by lacking the skills “… to confront with patience, insight and imagination the many problems that we face in our...
by Elizabeth Williamson | 10 Apr, 2022
Many years ago, sadly, I was very adept at being caught up in unpleasant conflicts – and it was a mystery to me how I got there! After one particularly stupid experience I decided this must end. And so, my passion was ignited for untangling what really works to end...
by Elizabeth Williamson | 28 Feb, 2022
“Much of what we call emotion is nothing more or less than a certain kind – a biased, prejudiced, or strongly evaluative – kind of thought.” Albert Ellis. Albert Ellis was an American psychologist and academic who in the 1960s proposed there are twelve [12]...
by Elizabeth Williamson | 24 Jan, 2022
We humans sometimes learn wisdom through a fair bit of stupidity. We all have irrational assumptions about how we see conflicts play out, based on the stories we tell ourselves. We often learnt these assumptions and created these stories during our childhood, which means there is also likely to be immature emotions and needs underlying these stories.
by Elizabeth Williamson | 26 Apr, 2021
“I don’t like conflict, but I’m actually really good at getting in the middle of it. So I’ve learned a lot from my mistakes. And that sort of mistake led me towards saying “I’m never going to be a counsellor” and then finding it’s what I do, it’s my state of flow, if you like. And then finding out that counselling is all about difficult conversations, difficult people. We know we have difficult internal experiences. And that led me to get really interested in how to resolve conflict. So I now work a lot with having people with who have difficult people in their lives or need to have those difficult conversations that we avoid. Yeah, organisations that need to deal with difficult circumstances, or difficult environments, difficult people. So that’s, that’s my world now.
by Elizabeth Williamson | 15 Mar, 2020
When there’s potential for tension and heightened emotions research shows what you do in the first 3 minutes is vital. If you start a conversation with criticism or harshness, then add defensiveness and blame, the likelihood of escalating conflicts and wanting to withdraw from the relationship are predictable outcomes.