Hello Concealed Coalition! Austin Davis coming to you with another crucial holiday tip.
Look, I hope you have the most amazing, tranquil family coming to visit you this whole holiday season. However, for better or for worse, some of our family members have very different political beliefs and temperaments than we do. So if you haven’t taken time to really hone your de-escalation skills, this holiday season might be a sort of real-life test to see how well your skillsets work.
De-Escalation Skills: Not Just for Emergencies
Remember, when it comes to de-escalation, it’s not always about talking someone off a bridge or out of shooting you and your family in a robbery.
De-escalation can also happen in social settings. And if we learn in lower risk environments, this could help us if and when we come into a high risk, high tension conflict situation later in life.
So work hard on practicing those de-escalation skills. If you need some help getting started or brushing up on de-escalation skills, check out our Concealed Coalition University episode on de-escalation or read our new book about it.
Simple Steps You Can Take for Holiday De-Escalation
But if you forget everything else, just remember this: The number one rule of de-escalation? Don’t escalate the situation.
So keep very conscious tabs on where you are in your conflict arousal as these situations happen and follow these simple steps:
- Cut off the situation early before it blows up too much.
- Try to show empathy to whoever you are having a disagreement with.
- Try to build rapport with that friend or family member.
- Try to find a workaround the issue in order to ultimately find a happy ending.
There will most likely always be disagreements around the holiday season, but when family comes around, this is your chance to practice your de-escalation skills and your chance to show that you’re a guardian always and a warrior when needed.
