Communication and Resolving Conflict What Can Be Hard About
Living in Community? For many of us, one of the hardest things
about living in community is dealing with conflict.
Unfortunately the mainstream culture doesn’t teach healthy
conflict resolution skills, so it’s essential for us to learn
them in order for our community to thrive. One major skill is
learning to communicate more clearly, compassionately, and
effectively. This can be incredibly challenging, but when it
works well, also incredibly rewarding. Paying attention to our
own reactions and needs, while acknowledging that others may
legitimately perceive things very differently, goes a long way
toward making this work. Every day offers us the chance to
practice better communication skills. NVC (non-violent
communication) has been a helpful tool for many here. Other
approaches commonly used at DR include personal/internal work,
emotional processing, informal counseling/support, and support
groups of various kinds. Formal and informal mediation is a