Mar 14, 2024 | Mental Health Ministry, Stronger Together Support Group
Hello Stronger Together Friends,
I am filling in again for Alex so… please join me this Thursday to discuss conflict and how to try to argue effectively. Of course arguing effectively sounds good on paper, or video, but in real life arguing is way complicated, as we all know. What are your go to techniques for diffusing or working through difficult arguments?
Here is the video we will see on working through conflict: How to Argue Effectively.
Warm up question: What do you think about Daylight Savings Time?
Hope to see you Thursday at 7pm.
Dee
Mar 6, 2024 | Mental Health Ministry, Stronger Together Support Group
Hello friends,
Last week we talked about narcissism as a form of mental illness, which led to a thoughtful conversation on the challenges of dealing with narcissists. We can all agree there are plenty of types of “difficult” people beyond just narcissists, however! I’ll bet if you paused right now to see how long it takes you to come up with the name of one “difficult” person you’ve had to deal with… actually, try that right now and let me know how long it took you.
I came up with two names in less than two seconds, and just thinking about them started to make me feel tense. And that’s the point of this week’s discussion: how can we deal with difficult people without it feeling so painful? We’ll watch a helpful, short interview with an expert who sums up the guidance for psychologists quite well. I think the advice we hear in this interview will resonate in some ways, and challenge our assumptions in others.
Our warm-up question for this week:
What’s one thing you cherish about spring?
See you soon,
Alex
Feb 22, 2024 | Mental Health Ministry, Stronger Together Support Group
Hello friends,
If only it were easier to say “I’m sorry.” If we could just be better at apologizing — truly apologizing — think of how much easier it would be to move past conflict, maintain loving relationships, and build trust. Probably there’s a good reason why saying “I’m sorry” is inherently difficult.
If it’s difficult to apologize, does that mean we can get better at it? That’s one of the things I’m hoping to figure out in this week’s conversation! We’ll watch a brief video titled, “A perfect apology in three steps” (it’s only three steps, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy). In it, the speaker talks about how to craft an effective apology, and how this turns us toward a place of gratitude. If you don’t have time to watch the video beforehand, no apology is necessary. 😉
Our warm-up question for this week:
What’s your favorite summer Olympics sport to watch?
See you soon,
Alex
Dec 28, 2023 | Mental Health Ministry, Stronger Together Support Group
Hello friends,
I hope you had a very merry Christmas and, if possible, have been spending lots of quality time with loved ones. I’m enjoying time with extended family here in Georgia, but it’s not all perfectly smooth sailing. It got me thinking: what strategies should we use when time with family challenges our mental health?
I came across this really wonderful article on coping with family dynamics during the holidays. The author recalls a favorite dessert — “The Dysfunctional Family Sundae” — offered at a nearby restaurant:
The Dysfunctional Family Sundae, a blend of three ice creams, brownies, chocolate cookies, whipped cream and sauces (chocolate, butterscotch, and strawberry), all topped with a cherry. This dessert required sharing among multiple friends. The tag line went something like this: all the ingredients are good on their own, but when placed together are sure to elicit indigestion, just like a dysfunctional family. Thus, cope with the dysfunction by sharing with friends.
Fortunately the author also offers more than a dozen practical strategies for preserving (or gaining back) positive mental health when the family sundae brings about distress, gastrointestinal or otherwise. In fact, many of these strategies are great to use for building strong family bonds even if there are no mental health concerns! I look forward to discussing them together as a group this week.
Our warm-up question for this week:
What “TV family” (e.g., The Brady Bunch) is most memorable for you, and why?
See you soon,
Alex
Jun 29, 2023 | Mental Health Ministry, Stronger Together Support Group
Hello friends,
Our conversation this week is about something we all can relate to: being wronged by someone. More specifically, what we do after we’ve been wronged. You probably know where this is going…forgiveness.
We’ve talked about forgiveness before in Stronger Together, but this week we’re going to focus on a particular science-backed strategy called the “REACH” method, which has been shown to make forgiveness a little easier to implement and live with. Here’s a highlight from the linked article:
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THE REACH FORGIVENESS METHOD
Think about the hardest thing you ever successfully forgave. Remind yourself that you CAN forgive.Rehearse the benefits to yourself of forgiving, and know that forgiveness might help your relationship, if it is safe, prudent, and possible to reconcile.
Work through the five steps to REACH emotional forgiveness.
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- R = Recall the hurt as objectively as you can.
- E = Empathize with the one who hurt you. Try, if possible, to see things from their viewpoint. If you can’t, use sympathy, compassion, or even love (particularly in romantic relationships) to replace the negative unforgiving emotions.
- A = Altruistic gift of forgiveness. No one deserves forgiveness. Forgiveness is your choice. If you choose to give it, it is an altruistic gift.
- C = Commit to the emotional forgiveness you experience.
- H = Hold on to forgiveness when you doubt that you’ve really forgiven.
Seek to make a decision to forgive, which is deciding not to pay the person back but to treat the person as a valuable and valued person. This is about your intention to treat the person differently.
Try to solidify your forgiveness by applying the REACH steps and making a decision to forgive in several other relationships that are not characterized by full forgiveness.
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Our warm-up question for this week:
What’s an instrument you wish you could play?
See you soon,
Alex
