We are one big family, united across the world by our common humanity. The issues—politics, race, religion—aren’t what pull us apart, instead it’s our inability to learn what shaped another’s views on these issues that is steadily fracturing this common bond we all share. What if we applied tried and true couples therapy tools to our difficult conversations on social justice, economics, and the like?
Traci Ruble—Sidewalk Talk founder, couples psychotherapist, and listening enthusiast—is here to lead the world in a couples counseling session as we attempt to reconcile the differences that seek to divide us. Traci has worked with disconnected couples for over 16 years, and through it all she’s learned a thing or two about active listening and how to find common ground, even when it seems impossible.
This workshop is based on couples therapy techniques, including:
- Knowing yourself, what you stand for (your values), and what has shaped you.
- Knowing your loved one, what they stand for (their values), and what has shaped them.
- Learning to communicate from your centered self, rather than from your wounds, fears, or assumptions.
- Cultivating your ability to listen and empathize with yourself and your loved one.
- Practicing healthy ways to feel and express needs, longings, and anger.
- Fostering healthy ways to set boundaries, expectations, and limits.
- Crafting a shared vision for a healthy “we” that also supports a healthy “me” and puts that vision into practice.
Individuals will leave the webinar with a more well-rounded understanding of how other people’s beliefs and values color how they vote, where they choose to worship, and whether or not they take action on things like racial justice or getting vaccinated against COVID-19.
Participants will learn how to constructively and empathetically talk to others about their beliefs, gaining techniques to empower their conversations with centered listening and deeper understanding. But most of all, those part of the Wish You Knew Me workshop will walk out with a soup to nuts conversation guide that they can use to invite others into fun, structured, smart conversations that just might lead to greater connection, and in turn, help unite our divided world.
