From The Daily Dialogue
From The Daily Dialogue
Broadcast of 7/20/98
Subject: [DailyDialogue #199] Rupture of Connection
We are essentially connected to our self, to our context, to one another, and to the universe. But due to the emotional wounding we experienced along the developmental continuum, we can develop gaps in that connection resulting in a self-absorbed, fragmented, symbiotic self which externalizes through criticism, blame, hatred, projection, and the devaluation of the other.
As mental health practitioners, this is what we see played out between spouses in our office ... essentially these couples all share the same diagnosis: "Loss of connection." Therefore ... our ultimate prognosis is to "restore connection."
-- Rick Brown, Executive Director, Institute for Imago Relationship Therapy
Yesterday's dialogue mentioned the practice of parent-child dialogue, wherein one partner takes on the temporary role of a listening parent, and the other partner the role of a speaking child. This technique is often used by therapists to train partners to help one another explore the wounding that is contributing to reactivity. Parent-child dialogue is one of several extraordinarily helpful exercises that partners can be trained to do for each other.
What I've personally found in doing this exercise is that most often, there is something about my relationship with Eddy that is reminding me (usually subliminally) of a difficult time I had as a child. So, in speaking to Eddy as if she were my parent, telling her how it was for me as a child, I'm telling the my truth about something in our relationship that is hard for me.
Experiment: Write or draw the nature of your personal connections with the various entities mentioned in today's quote. Share this with your partner.
Affirmation: As couples committed to consious relating and dialogue, we repair our ruptured connection. The Daily Dialogue is published each day of 1998 by e-mail. Copyright 1998, Eddy Brame and Marty Crouch, All rights reserved.
