Posts Tagged ‘Andrea Williams’
When Silence Can Be the Key to Listening Deeply
In today’s world, when are we not stressed out by things that happen in our everyday life? Do you find yourself feeling anxious reflecting on the important conversations you need to have but can’t because of the stress? Are there times when your stress levels prevent you from concentrating and listening to others? For many of us, the bad economy has positioned us to be on full-time stress alert taking our attention away from the things that matter most…our families, relationships, and our own health. Right now, people need to feel heard and understood; and yet, the overwhelming stress can prevent us from being effective listeners.
When you are not an effective listener there are things that you miss out on. Sometimes those things can be as significant as missing the time schedule to pick up your kids up from school to your work deadline for a special project. Either way becoming an effective listener can be difficult and takes lots of work especially in times of stress.
I know this from personal experience. My child’s father and I found it real difficult to listen to each other when it came to discussing matters about our daughter. There were times I felt he would hear the first ten minutes of the conversation and block out the last twenty minutes. This would cause us to bump heads on every decision that was needed to be made for our daughter. As time progressed, we both realized it wasn’t the fact that we could not talk to each other, but the fact that we were not listening to each other.
We all participate in selective hearing, and it can cause us to miss out on important things. If you would like to know more about learning different techniques to become an effective listener, listen to The New Trend in Listening: How to Improve Your Communication Skills and Enrich Relationships with Susan Young, President of Get In Front Communications.
Authored by Andrea Williams
Graduate Student Intern
Learning to Cope with your Crazy Family
Do you love your family, but you just can’t deal with them on a regular basis? Do you wish that family gatherings would be filled with fun and laughter, instead of arguments? Summer will soon be approaching, which means barbeques, family reunions, and plain old get- togethers with our families. Many of us love our family, but don’t like spending time with them due to the drama it creates. Loving your family at a distance is hard to do especially when you want more out of the relationship.
Coming from a huge family myself, I can understand the issues and or conflict that are surrounded by families coming together. It’s always the old aunt or grandmother that makes a comment out loud that’s supposed to be the family secret. Or that one nosy cousin that creates drama by asking everyone’s business. Trust me! I understand your pain. I go through it too, but there are ways to control the situation without letting it escalate to conflict. There are techniques you can learn to help you approach family conflict calmly, and effectively. Leaning new ways to approach family conflict during gatherings will help create a new and loving relationship with your family, and make you appreciate and enjoy your time with them.
If you would like to know more listen to Overcoming Conflict at Family Gatherings to find out further information with Janet Bonnin of Fine Tuned Families. In this podcast she teaches you how to cope with family conflict at gatherings.
By Andrea Williams
Intern joins The Texas Conflict Coach Blog Talk Radio Show
Please join me in welcoming Andrea Williams, graduate student from the University of Baltimore in the Negotiations and Conflict Management graduate program. I am so excited to have her join my team this semester.
My entire life has been devoted to helping people and how to make a world a better place. I was born and raised in Los Angeles, CA, where I attended one of the top public high school in the nations called Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies. I graduated from there in the year 2001.
While attending high school I was involved in numerous activities within my church and my community, which taught me leadership and discipline skills. The most prominent activity I participated in was singing in a community choir called the Los Angeles Inner City Choir, where we as choir members would help the Los Angeles Community through songs and volunteering our time. While participating in this choir I earned numerous awards as a singer in competitions for three years. This choir helped developed my maturity level, established my ability to travel, and taught me how to handle pressure. I also gained high energy, and pride in accomplishments.
In the year of 2006 I graduated from Morgan State University where I majored in political science and minored in pre-law, with a concentration in international business. I took numerous classes at this university that helped carve out my niche into society. Courses like Constitutional Law, Philosophy of Law, Scopes and Methods, Public Policy, Global Studies, International Relations, Economics 201 and 202, and Business 101, which helped develop my analytical, communication, and research skills. These courses also help me gain an understanding of domestic and international laws.
In 2009, I was accepted into the M.S. program at the University of Baltimore in their Negotiations and Conflict Management department. This is the place where I discovered my passion to work with families and children within the court system. Within this program I have taken courses like, Negotiations and Assessing Conflict which has given me the stepping stone on how to analyze and handle conflict.