One of the important components of a happy and healthy life is to feel respected. As we may have learned in kindergarten, but sometimes forget, an important way of earning respect is to be respectful of others. Respectful communication is important in all aspects of our lives; at home, with spouses, children, parents, other family members, with friends, on the job with managers, employees, co-workers, vendors and clients and in every other facet of our lives.

Respectful communication, while it may be in many ways as simple as what we learned in kindergarten, is often a challenging aspect of human interaction. This is most especially true when emotions come flooding up to the surface and we may feel inadequate, unloved or even unlovable. Acting out of a defensive posture to attack the "other" before they attack us can only serve to stir the conflict even more, rather than to earn respect.

Keeping emotions in check enough to be able to treat the other in a respectful way, even when we are not being afforded that same respect, may be even more of a challenge when layers of stress build upon other layers. Self care,including exercise, journaling and meditation may be very helpful.

We often find that in situations involving conflict, including marital problems, separation, divorce, and co-parenting, the tools that worked well prior to these stresses become not quite enough. At these times the benefit of a therapist, coach or mediator may be just what is needed to get back on the path of respectful communication. This is also the reason that we offer Collaborative Divorce Coaching - to bring respect to the divorce process for the emotional health of children and adults alike.