ARTICLES

ARTICLES BY MIKE JACKSON, MFT, Conflict Resolution Topic Expert Contributor for Good Therapy.org

 

“CONFLICT RESOLUTION: A New Model”

– by Mike Jackson, MFT, 2011

Excerpt: “Contemporary models for understanding individual differences in human behavior are built on an assumption of choice; a belief that human beings can alter their response patterns, if they really want to. Consequently, when a couple’s differences in perceptions or priorities trigger a conflicted exchange, each believes the other could understand their perspective if they really wanted to. This assumption of choice in comprehending can lead to debilitating relationship- threatening debates over who is right and who is not. The destructive nature of these exchanges is often visible to the therapist in the couple’s first session…” Download Full Article

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“WORKING WITH INDIVIDUALS, COUPLES AND FAMILIES CAN BE EASIER…… A LOT EASIER”

– by Mike Jackson, MFT, 2008

“Working With Individuals, Couples, and Families Can Be Easier . . . a Lot Easier! The path of discovery that led to this conclusion began over seven years ago on a hunch involving work with couples. I was scanning a colleague’s collection of books on psychology one day when a title caught my eye. “Please Understand Me; Character and Temperament Types.” I had been in practice for over 20 years by then and still had not found a satisfactory way to help couples resolve their problems…”Download Full Article

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 “Conflict Resolution: Understanding the Four Temperaments”

• by Mike Jackson, MFT,  April 8, 2014

Excerpt: The nature of temperament-driven differences is such that four individuals with different temperaments can perceive, process, prioritize, and respond to the same reality in significantly different ways. Current models for making sense out of these differences treat them as matters of choice rather than of nature.

Consequently, when these differences lead to a disagreement over who is right and who is not, each assumes that the other is choosing to differ when they are not. Never-ending relationship-threatening debates can ensue driven by natural differences that neither is aware exist…”Download Full Article

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Understanding Yourself Is Key to Understanding Others

-by Mike Jackson, MFT, July 10, 2014

Excerpt: “Individuals who naturally come to conclusions based on objective assessments of cause and effect are not usually insensitive or uncaring. They are simply designed to draw conclusions logically, a process that requires feelings to be experienced in a more neutral manner. And individuals who automatically factor in how others will, or may, feel when making decisions are not usually emotionally weak or unstable. They are simply wired to make decisions in a way that minimizes disruption of harmony in human relationships…”Download Full Article

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“Parenting: Understanding Your Child’s Nature”

– by Mike Jackson, MFT , May 24, 2014

Excerpt: “Children have a core nature. A set of automatically triggered perceptions, priorities, values and meanings that are present at birth, identifiable at an early age and do not change much across time. Parents also have a nature, the one that they were born with. A parent’s nature might be the same as or quite different from that of their co-parent, child or children…”Download full article

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Happy in Solitude: The Joy of Being an Introvert

– by Mike Jackson, MFT, September 24, 2014Excerpt: ‘There is a reason introverts experience a deep sense of satisfaction, even joy, in solitary pursuits, and it is not because there is something wrong with them. It is because they are, by nature, designed to generate life energy in this manner…,”Download Full Article

Michael L. Jackson, MFT Therapist in South Pasadena Therapist