Knowing what to say in difficult situations is always a challenge. Dr. Karyn Gordon has some suggestions on how to approach and handle these moments.
She warns against saying, “I know how you feel.” Even if you have gone through the same situation, everyone deals with things differently and it’s important to remember that.
Here are three situations and how Dr. Karyn proposes you approach them.
Someone is diagnosed with cancer:
1. Acknowledge it.
Be careful for when you bring it up – don’t bring it up in front of a large group of people, wait for some one-on-one time. When the time is right, ask “how are you feeling?”.
2. Be practical.
Ask “What are the next steps?” or “Talk to me about what this is going to look like for you?”.
3. Ask how you can help.
It’s important to do what you can to help. Can you watch her kids? Take her out for lunch? These may seem like small things, but they will be a huge help.
A parent passes:
1. Acknowledge it.
Tell them, “I’m so sorry to hear of your loss.” Then, depending on your level of trust, you can go deeper with it.
2. Be empathetic but not sympathetic.
If you have a deep level of trust, you can say something like, “I know that this is painful and heart wrenching, but I know you’re going to get through this.”
Someone has gained or lost a lot of weight:
This is a very delicate topic! Dr. Karyn stresses that you only bring it up if you have a huge amount of trust in the relationship.
1. Don’t approach it directly.
Instead of cutting right to the chase, ask “How are you doing?” or “How are you feeling?” or “Are you stressed out?”. That will start a conversation and during that time they might bring it up themselves, and then you can talk about it more.
2. How can I help?
Talk about how you can help – do they want to start running with you or cooking meals together? Try to do something proactive that will help the situation.
For more great tips from Dr. Karyn Gordon watch the clip below!
brightcove.createExperiences();
0 comments:
Post a Comment