Barrier~

A)  A free flowing dialogue wound up and spewing forth meets with: You speak too fast
I slow down, but am met with either an answer that comes from B, C, or D.
B)  A thought provoking dialogue full of possibilities meets with: I am tired or do we have to talk about that?.
C)  A general rely of goings on is met with: What did you say?
D)  I reiterate and am met with: Goodie, congratulations, yay, I am so happy for you, that’s amazing, you did?, and the like.

How might the door to dialogue be open?  When I studied psychological counseling, we would do dry runs with one student acting as the psychologist and the other as the patient.  The role of the patient could be played two ways: the patient would either be willing to talk or not.  The role of the psychologist was to get the person to say something...anything.  When met with a barrier in regard to why they are in counseling, we were instructed to ask about the weather based on what the individual was wearing or carrying (i.e., umbrella) or other common dialogue that could open the way for discussion.  The proverbial door could be opened if the individual were able to discuss the weather.  We were also taught not to ask questioned that would elicit a yes or no answer as that is not a dialogue.  We were to seek depth.

Psychologist: How is the weather?
Patient: It is too windy!
Psychologist: How windy is it?
Patient: It is so windy that my skirt blew up and showed my ass in a public place!
Psychologist: How did you feel about that?

This does not get to the core of the reason the person is in therapy, but it is a start to evoke a discussion.

With the barriers I am up against, maybe it is best if I just shut the fuck up and leave the floor open to the other.  If the other puts nothing on the floor, there is nothing to discuss.  Conversation (if you want to call it that), terminated. ~ Maggie ~ 11/8/10 @ 8:10 p.m. EST