The Dialogue Process Moving from Conflict to Connection: Harville Hendrix & Helen LaKelly Hunt
Talking is the most dangerous thing most people do, and listening is the most infrequent. What makes talking dangerous is that one speaker presumes to own the “truth” and claims the authority that annihilates the “truth” of the other. In reaction, the other speaker makes a counter claim to the “truth” by turning away (rejecting), turning toward (confronting) or shutting down engagement entirely (leaving the scene). These everyday interactions, by millions of persons, are constantly creating the polarizations of everyday life that plague us human species.
Dialogue is taking turns talking without judging, listening without criticizing, and connecting around and beyond differences. In dialogical practice, human beings replace their desire to change or control the other with an attempt to understand and affirm the otherness of the other. They allow the world of the other to occupy space in their mental and emotional universe. Dialogical engagement is so profound and impactful that each is inevitably transformed into a space of genuine connecting. In these very deep conversations both speaker and listener are made human.
Speakers: Helen LaKelly Hunt & Harville Hendrix