Do You Command Respect?
Kim Cooper's End the Verbal Abuse Article Series Introduction
The person who wrote, “Sticks & stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” obviously never lived with verbal abuse. Quite simply, words can and do hurt.”
For years, I lived on the receiving end of insults, verbal aggression and sarcasm and–I’m embarrassed to say–was often guilty of these myself.
Over the years, my skill at avoiding putdowns (and my ability to keep my mouth shut) has improved, which has certainly expanded my circle of influence.
If you are struggling to command respect in your life, I’m glad to share what I have learned with you. I know what it’s like to feel continually put down and not understand why this keeps happening. It’s a terrible place to be.
Don’t Leave ‘Next Time’ to Luck
The first thing you must understand is that any way of dealing with verbal abuse that relies on analysing a conversation in progress is simply not going to work.
Our amygdala (emotional brain) is lightning-fast compared to our analytical brain (prefrontal cortex). So when our emotional buttons get pushed, we will always find ourselves reacting long before our ‘best brain’ gets the chance to catch up.
Just hoping you will do better ‘next time’ will never work. Changing your reaction will take you deliberately practising new responses well in advance of when you will need them next.
Do you wish to improve your skill in handling situations where you often face insults or disrespect? If so, you will need to spend time contemplating the situations where this usually happens. Then, start working on new strategies to practice that will no longer leave ‘next time’ up to luck.
I can understand if this suggestion may sound like a daunting task, but I'm here to help make this change as effortless and manageable as possible. Let's work together and get you out of the corner! Working on better responses to put-downs and insults will vastly improve your life in ways that nothing else will.
I have recently completed a diploma in hypnotherapy, and I will be adding suggestion therapy audio recordings (for paid subscribers) here soon that will help reinforce these new responses.
I have, first of all, updated my very popular series on Ending the Verbal Abuse. The series is now available to paid subscribers for only $8 USD a month.
You can check out all of the titles I have posted so far here
And there will be more posted over the next few days.