Interpersonal Communication Resources
A lot of us are trying to figure out how to cope with uncertain times and day-to-day stressors that emerge from past disasters, social injustices, and the daily onslaught of bad news.
The following websites are great for researching, reading up on, and/or practicing mindfulness, listening, and interpersonal communication skills, including negotiation and supportive communication.
Mindfulness
Several US American university-based research centers have fantastic research and information on living well, mindfulness, awareness-based issues, and related topics.
Mindful Awareness Research Center, University of California, Los Angeles
Greater Good Science Center, University of California, Berkeley
Center for Mindfulness, University of Massachusetts
Center for Healthy Minds, University of Wisconsin-Madison
UMN's Center for Spirituality and Healing is here in case you are interested in attending classes or lectures in the Twin Cities area.
Eric Garland's Blog (University of Utah). Eric Garland is a clinical psychologist and psychotherapist doing fantastic research on the influence of mindfulness.
Listening & Paying Attention
How to be a good listener. This is a great newspaper article with pragmatic tips for listening.
Listening competence in initial interactions: Distinguishing between what listening is what listeners do. This is a great empirical article from Graham Bodie (and some of his students) on what competent listening actually is.
Conflict Resolution
The Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School is perhaps the US American leader on evidence-based resources for conflict resolution and negotiation. All resources are grounded in a social justice model, and aim to increase our skills to manage difficult interactions.
The website features a vast number of free reports on conflict that are all worth a gander. You can also order the international bestseller, Getting to Yes by Fisher, Ury, and Patton, as well as other great books. A second book I recommend that also comes from Harvard's Program on Negotiation is Difficult Conversations by Stone, Patton, and Heen.
Interpersonal Communication Skills and Support in Relationships
There are several great resources for couples to strengthen their relationships. The Gottman Institute's site comes to mind.
In my own research, we developed and tested a brief two-week communication skills training that increases couples' communication skills. The training booklet consists of daily 15-minute exercises that teach active listening skills (e.g., perception checks) and skills to facilitate partner coping.
We also designed a brief PowerPoint presentation summarizing the training. The presentation includes an active embodied listening exercise with a brief video. That exercise is Day 2's exercise in the booklet.
Here is a talk I gave during the UMN-Best Buy alumni network meeting on the Best Buy campus in Richfield, MN.