Repairing Injured Relationships
A Healer's Guide to the to the Beyond Intractability Website1
- Do you think apologies are necessary, or at a minimum helpful, in enabling people to move past problems in their lives?
- Do you encourage opening the lines of communication and engaging in negotiation when people are in conflict but are not talking?
- If someone from another group approaches you to enter into a dialogue that could be difficult for you, do you engage?
If you answered "yes" to one or more of the above questions, then you are probably a healer.
And if you are a healer, then this site is for you!
Who are Healers?
At the core of many conflicts lie emotions — anger, fear, humiliation, hatred, insecurity, and grief. The wounds may run deep. Even if a conflict appears to be resolved after a process of mediation, adjudication, or voting, the wounds may remain, and with them, the danger that the conflict could recur. A conflict cannot be considered fully resolved until the injured relationships have begun to heal. The role of the healer is to assist in this process.
For More Information
[1] Much of the material on
this user guide is drawn from www.thirdside.org. Thanks to William Ury and Joshua Weiss for giving us permission to republish their material here.
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