A Guide To Anger And Conflict Resolution
Welcome to From Insults to Respect. Kamala Harris has agreed to debate Donald Trump on September 10th. I get why politically she feels she needs to agree to it–she doesn’t want to look like she’s afraid of him. Nevertheless, if I was in her place, I would have rejected the proposal because Trump, at these events, does not debate. Yes, he shows up at these events…
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Welcome to From Insults to Respect. As you no doubt know, a wide variety of people are being classified as having ADHD and prescribed psychiatric drugs. The pharmaceutical industry, with its enormous wealth, promotes the use of these drugs. Supporters of this drug approach often cast a disrespectful eye toward their critics while arguing that research supports their position. Meanwhile, a large group of scientific…
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Welcome to From Insults to Respect. Those who experience what is sometimes referred to as a nervous breakdown can receive a great many insults as their behavior begins to annoy. The Rolling Stones’s hit “19th Nervous Breakdown” insightfully explores this issue. The lyrics begin, You’re the kind of person you meet at certain dismal, dull affairs Center of a crowd, talking much too loud, running up…
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Welcome to From Insults to Respect. My previous post utilizes the Kinks song “Low Budget” to sympathetically discuss how our money woes can take a bite out of our feelings of respect for ourselves and others, while suggesting some helpful approaches to deal effectively with such challenges. The positive feedback that I received led me to see if I might utilize another Kinks song, partly…
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Welcome to From Insults to Respect. This week, I spent an evening listening to some of my favorite songs from the Kinks, a British rock band that had several great hits beginning in the mid-1960s. Brothers Ray Davies (lead vocals, rhythm guitar) and Dave Davies (lead guitar, vocals) remained members throughout the group’s 32-year run. One of the songs, “Low Budget,” released in 1979 when inflation…
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Welcome to From Insults to Respect. My last couple of blog posts see (HERE & HERE) explored why criticism often leads to defensiveness. Shortly after I published these, one of my readers, Bob Parker, PhD, responded with an email saying, “I liked your blog post a lot. It rings very true. I think a fine line exists between defensive reactions and introspection in this case….
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Welcome to From Insults to Respect. In my last blog post, we discussed how criticism often leads to an angry conflict related to the desire to be liked. We now turn to another reason why criticism often leads to a conflict — the desire to maintain freedom. Back in 1966, psychologist Jack W. Brehm published a remarkable book entitled, A Theory of Psychological Reactance. In…
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Welcome to From Insults to Respect. When someone provides criticism anger often ensues. The above comic offers us a fine example. Why is Sally getting so angry over her brother’s comment? Could it have to do with the desire to be liked and loved? For many of us, not being liked or loved is the worst thing imaginable. When you’re around someone who likes you, oftentimes that…
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Welcome to From Insults to Respect. Today, we discuss Donald Trump and his supporters taking cheap shots seeking to blame President Biden for inflation. They are doing this despite the overwhelming evidence that countries around the world, regardless of whether they are led by very conservative or liberal governments, have been experiencing inflation. Moreover, it is factually undeniable that the annual inflation rates for dozens and dozens…
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Welcome to From Insults to Respect. Today, we discuss Bob Dylan’s song, “Baby, Stop Crying.” According to Wikipedia, it was released in the summer of 1978 as a single and in a longer album version on Street Legal. The song charted at #13 in the UK and was a top-ten song in much of Europe, although it failed to chart in the United States. It…
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