Conversations can be difficult sometimes. And when it comes to difficult conversations, most people do not know how to address them. This has ended a lot of relationships already – the inability to have hard conversations. But what happens when we need to tell a hard truth to someone we love? Be it revealing something sad or a break of trust or a major change – telling a hard truth can be a difficult process in itself, especially when we do it to someone we love. “It would be wonderful if telling your truth was easy; if sharing was all that had to be done. Revealing the truth is work in itself; it can be painful, but ultimately leaves space to either heal or create something new,” read an excerpt of Psychotherapist Emily H Sanders’ post.
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Emily further noted down the steps of telling a hard truth. They are, as follows:
Information: The first step is knowing the information that needs to be shared and making the firm decision of sharing it, no matter what.
Decide: The truth may initiate some changes based on the decisions that you and the other person take. We should be firm with the decision we want so as to not initiate any confusion in the conversation.
Why it was avoided: We should also understand the reason why the conversation was avoided for some time and stay grounded during the conversation.
Time and place: We should pick a time and a place to the partner’s convenience to tell them the hard truth.
Direct: We should not become passive aggressive in the process. We should instead make a clear plan on how we want to have the conversation.
Warning: When we begin the conversation, we should let them know that it is something that is difficult to share, and then start the conversation.
Own it: In case the situation involves us taking responsibility for something we did – we should take responsibility for the same.
Follow up conversation: One conversation may bring up many follow up conversations and we should be ready for them.
