Diane Musho Hamilton

When a conversation takes a turn into the sometimes uncomfortable and often contentious topics of race, religion, gender, sexuality, and politics, it can be difficult to know what to say or how to respond to someone you disagree with. Compassionate Conversations empowers us to transform these conversations into opportunities to bridge divides and mend relationships by providing the basic set of skills we need to be successful, including listening, reframing, and dealing with strong emotions.

Addressing the long history of injury and pain for marginalized groups, the authors explore topics like intersectionality, power dynamics, and white fragility, allowing us to be more mindful in our conversations. Each chapter contains practices and conversation starters to help everyone feel more prepared to talk through polarizing issues, ultimately encouraging us to take risks, to understand and recognize our deep commonalities, to be willing to make mistakes, and to become more intimate with expressing our truths, as well as listening to those of others.… (mehr)

This is a book about what it takes to have productive dialogue around difficult and emotionally charged topics. The authors draw upon lessons learned from their own experiences and those of others. This is not a how-to book. The authors explain the attitudes and behaviors that are required to enter understanding and healing conversations. Each chapter ends with personal practices meant to guide the reader in experimenting with and developing the attitudes and skills necessary for caring dialogue. This book is for those who want to begin the journey toward compassionate speaking and listening without expecting an explicit roadmap about how to travel that route.… (mehr)

Conflict is going to be a part of your life-as long as you have relationships, a job, or dry cleaning to be picked up. Bracing yourself against it won't make it go away, but if you approach it consciously, you can navigate it in way that not only honors everyone involved but makes it a source of deep insight as well. Seasoned mediator Diane Hamilton provides the skill set you need to engage conflict with wisdom and compassion, and even-sometimes-to be grateful for it. She teaches us how to: Cultivate the mirror-like quality of attention as your base Identify three personal conflict styles and determine which ones you fall into Recognize the three fundamental perspectives in any conflict situation and learn to inhabit each of them Turn conflicts in families, at work, and in every kind of interpersonal situation into win-win situations Her unique approach unites Zen wisdom and Integral Spirituality with her own story and her experiences as a professional mediator in a way that shows you how to look at conflict in a new way: as an essentially spiritual practice.… (mehr)