How to Have That Difficult Conversation You've Been Avoiding : With Your Spouse, Adult Child, Boss, Coworker, Best Friend, Parent, or Someone You're Dating

by Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend

• ISBN13: 9780310267140
• ISBN10: 0310267145
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-01-01
• Publisher: Zondervan

Summary

All of Us need to be able to have a healthy confrontational conversation at one time or another. Sometimes it's a matter of simply saying no so we don't get overextended, or saying yes to better ways of building intimacy in a good relationship. At other times, we may need to confront a difficult person in a relationship-a controller, a manipulator, an irresponsible person, perhaps even someone who is abusive.

Table of Contents

Confident Confrontations	p. 9
Why You Need to Have That Difficult Conversation
The Talk Can Change Your Life	p. 15
The Benefits of a Good Conversation	p. 20
The Essentials of a Good Conversation
Be Emotionally Present	p. 35
Be Clear about "You" and "I"	p. 38
Clarify the Problem	p. 41
Balance Grace and Truth	p. 44
Stay on Task	p. 47
Use the Formula, When You Do "A," I Feel "B"	p. 51
Affirm and Validate	p. 54
Apologize for Your Part in the Problem	p. 59
Avoid "Shoulds"	p. 62
Be an Agent for Change	p. 66
Be Specific	p. 70
Differentiate between Forgiving and Trusting	p. 74
Seeing How It's Done
Telling People What You Want	p. 81
Making Someone Aware of a Problem	p. 103
Stopping a Behavior	p. 126
Dealing with Blame, Counterattack, and Other Problems	p. 157
Getting Yourself Ready to Have the Conversation
Why You Need to Be Ready	p. 183
How to Get Ready	p. 188
Having the Difficult Conversation with People in Your Life
With Your Spouse	p. 207
With Someone You're Dating	p. 219
With Your Child	p. 232
With Your Parent	p. 243
With Adult Children	p. 256
At Work	p. 264
With People in Authority	p. 276
Speaking the Truth in Love	p. 287
Small Group Dicussion Guide	p. 291
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

Excerpts

How to Have That Difficult Conversation You’ve Been Avoiding
Copyright © 2003, 2005 by Henry Cloud and John Townsend
Formerly titled: Boundaries Face to Face
Requests for information should be addressed to:
Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Cloud, Henry.
[Boundaries face to face]
How to have that difficult conversation you’ve been avoiding : with your spouse,
your adult child, your boss, your coworker, your best friend, your parent, someone
you’re dating / Henry Cloud and John Townsend. — 1st ed.
p. cm.
Originally published: Boundaries face to face. Grand Rapids, Mich. : Zondervan,
c2003. With discussion guide.
ISBN-13: 978-0-310-26714-0
ISBN-10: 0-310-26714-5
I. Townsend, John Sims, 1952– II. Title.
BV4597.53.C58C59 2006
158.2 — dc22
2005027779
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Scripture quotations marked nasb are from the New American Standard Bible®, ©
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The Talk Can
Change Your Life
As we speak around the country at conferences on relationships,
we will often hear some version of the following story.
A man will come up and say, “Thanks for your materials on
setting limits and boundaries. They have changed my life and my
marriage.”
We will say, “Thank you, too. So what book did you read?”
“I didn’t read a book,” the man will say. “My wife did!”
He will go on to explain: “I was a crummy communicator with
my wife. I controlled her, I had some bad habits, and I had no spiritual
life to speak of. Then she read Boundaries, and she started
applying the principles. That’s when things started changing for
both of us. It took some time and effort, but I’m really different now. We are closer, and we have more respect for each other and more
freedom in the relationship. I’m doing a lot better with those bad
habits, and I’m waking up to my relationship with God.”
You would normally expect someone to talk about a book he has
actually read. However, this man’s unexpected response illustrates
a reality: The person who has the problem in a relationship often
isn’t taking responsibility for his problem. This was bad news for
the man’s wife. She wanted to see change, but he either didn’t see
a problem, thought it wasn’t a big issue, or thought his wife was
overreacting. This can leave the wife who cares for her husband
feeling helpless, discouraged, and less able to feel love in her heart
for him.
But there is good news. Though the person with the problem may
not be taking responsibility for, or “owning,” the problem, the person
affected by the problem can change things. You may be the
motivated one, the one who is concerned, sees the problem, and
feels discomfort from it, whether it be a bad attitude or a bad behavior. In
fact, you may be feeling more pain and discomfort than the
other person. In our example, the wife, before confronting her husband,
most likely had to deal with isolation, lack of freedom, his
bad habits, and the emptiness of not having a spiritual partner.
Things can change when the person experiencing the effects
of the problem takes the initiative to resolve it. This wife took the
first step. She became aware that her husband’s ways weren’t good
for either of them and that nothing would change unless she did
something herself.
That first step is often a conversation, a talk, a face-to-face confrontation
with the other person. It is a conversation in which the
two people
discuss the problem and
what can be done about it. It is a talk of
truth. That single conversation may be
all that’s needed. But more likely, it will
be the beginning of a series of conversations
and events, as it was with the
marriage in our example.
We want to affirm and validate your
decision to have “the conversation you
have been avoiding.” How to have that conversation is the core
need this book addresses. You need a caring yet honest and effective
way to confront someone in your life. The Bible teaches — and
research supports the idea — that you can develop the skills and
tools to be able to confront well.
Things can changewhen the person
experiencing the effects of the problem takes the
initiative to resolve it.
What Is a Boundary?
Before we go further, however, we need to define a term that will
come up a lot in this book: boundary.
Simply put, a boundary is your personal “property line.” It defines
who you are, where you end, and where others begin. It refers to the
truth, to reality, to what is. When you confront someone about a
problem, you are setting a boundary. You can set a boundary with
your words when you are honest and when you establish a consequence
for another’s hurtful actions.
Boundaries help define who we are in our relationships. When we
know what we want and do not want, what we are for and against,
what we love and hate, what is “me” and what is “not me,” we are
setting boundaries. People
with good boundaries are clear about
their opinions, beliefs, and attitudes — in the way that Jesus taught:
“Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’; anything beyond
this comes from the evil one” (Matt. 5:37). People
without clear
boundaries are unsure of their opinions, feelings, and beliefs. They
find themselves easily controlled by the demands of others because
they feel unsure of themselves when they need to take a stand.
Boundaries also help protect us from injury and harm. By setting
boundaries we can take responsibility for the lives and gifts
God has given us: “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the
wellspring of life” (Prov. 4:23). Boundaries protect our values, feelings,
time, energy, and attitudes.

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Excerpted from How to Have That Difficult Conversation You've Been Avoiding: With Your Spouse, Adult Child, Boss, Coworker, Best Friend, Parent, or Someone You're Dating by Henry Cloud, John Townsend, Cloud
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