Topic Wednesday // Managing Conflict // 26 April, 7 - 9pm AEST

Good evening everyone and welcome to our Topic Wednesday about conflict and how to manage it.

As Cherrybomb mentioned above conflict is a natural part of social interaction. Conflict occurs due to differences in opinion, values, needs, expectations, thoughts and emotions.

So naturally, when two people form a relationship whether that be family relationships with our parents, grandparents, siblings and extended family, an intimate relationship with a partner, a friendship or relationships with work colleagues, conflict will arise.

The conflict itself is not a bad thing, even though for some of us it is perceived as being a negative thing. The issues arise if we are not able to manage the conflict in a constructive way and work towards a resolution.

Tonight we will be discussing different ways we manage conflict, how to manage it in a constructive way and some strategies you can use when conflict arises.

I am happy for people to ask questions as they arise and share their experiences with conflict and how this relates to you in your life at the moment.

@Determined, @Nerf, @Kurra, @Cookiesquish, @Aer2812, @Mazarita, @Hank, @Red2110, @Sonya76, @soul, @Carer2750, @janedoe2, @Shaz51 and @Grasshopper3

Good evening @Former-Member

Hi @Shaz51

I'm here too.

Hi @soul, glad you could join us

I'm here too, first one I've been to so I'll try and not get too lost

Hi all, I'm here too, mainly to learn something about conflict that happens from time to time on the forum and how better to approach it.

An important thing to consider when talking about how we manage conflict is our own conflict management skills. We often learn conflict management skills from observing others (most commonly our parents and family) and sometimes by re-enacting roles we have/had in our families of origin. Families are not always ideal role models for managing or resolving conflict and we often don’t realize that we adopt the communication skills used in our families.

To start things off, let’s talk about what we already know about our own conflict styles. What can you identify about the way you manage conflict? Do you notice any patterns in the way you handle conflict across different relationships in your life?

I had the unfortunate situation where my partner with BPD saw a difference of opinion as something that was very wrong. He felt that his opinion was the only one that was right and if I disagreed he had to argue and argue until I agreed with him. At times this became very volatile and he became violent.

Often these arguments would stem from trivial matters or perceptions he made that were bordering on paranoia.

Hi @Hank welcome to your first topic wednesday! If you get lost give me a shout out

Hi @Mazarita, glad you could join us too The strategies we will talk about can be applied to any conflict situation so hopefully you will be able to apply them to any conflict that may arise on the forum.