February 14th is Valentine’s Day and a time to celebrate love and its importance in our lives, especially in our close relationships with our spouses, partners and children.
If you have learned the communication and conflict resolution skills that are the core of the Gordon Model, you’ve experienced their positive results—of truly understanding another person and being understood; of how being open and honest can clear the air between two people; of the satisfied or even euphoric feeling of resolving a difficult, long-standing conflict. You realize that your relationships are working better, more effectively.
You might have also focused on the fact that many of them are more loving. That’s no coincidence. Love either flourishes or deteriorates depending on how we talk to and treat each other.
One of the best benefits of learning and using the skills of the Gordon Model is that they help us build and maintain love in these relationships.
| What Diminishes Love |
|---|
| -Trying to change the other |
| -Communication Roadblocks (AKA, “The Dirty Dozen”) |
| -Blameful You-Messages |
| -Coercion |
| -Punishment |
| What Nurtures Love |
|---|
| – Acceptance of the other as they are |
| – Empathic Listening |
| – Honest, non-blameful communication (I-Messages) |
| – No-lose Conflict Resolution |
| – Problem-Solving together |
From all of us at Gordon Training International
We wish you a very
Happy Valentine’s Day!