Handling conflict in a relationship is challenging for many couples. It can be difficult to find ways to talk about disagreements or complaints that don’t devolve into arguments that don’t resolve anything, leave you both feeling worse, and potentially lead to more fights down the road.

Marriage expert John Gottman describes five steps to deal with conflicts without letting them turn into fights. You can learn about these steps in more detail from his book The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work.

Step 1. Soften Your Startup: You’ll find my video all about how to soften your startup in an earlier post. “Startup” refers to how you initiate a discussion with your partner about a complaint you have or an issues of conflict in your relationship. Regarding startups, Gottman says:

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In a previous post we looked at some signs that suggest your relationship or marriage is in trouble according to relationship expert John Gottman. In his book, The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work, Gottman details seven principles that can help you get your relationship or marriage back on track.

1. Enhancing Your Love Maps: Love Maps are the part of your brain where you keep information about your partner’s life. The more familiar you and your partner are with each other’s world, the more detailed your love maps. You know each other’s histories, day-to-day life, friends, values, interests, dreams, etc. You know how things are going in in their life, at work, whether they’re having a bad day or week, what’s been on their mind, anything that’s troubling or worrying them, and important things that are coming up in their life. You also know the little details like their favourite foods, books, movies and tv shows. You keep track of what’s important in each other’s lives, and in so doing become closer and more intimate with each other. Read More

Marriage and relationship expert John Gottman has spent years analyzing relationships to figure out what makes them work, and what types of interactions between couples signal danger. Based on studying thousands of couples and how they interact, he’s able to predict with 91% accuracy whether a couple will divorce. He’s identified six signs, described below, that a relationship is in trouble. If these issues aren’t addressed, chances are the relationship will fail.

Please don’t get discouraged if you recognize many or all of these signs in your relationship. They are all very common, and diagnosing underlying problems in your relationship is the first step in mending things with your partner. Once you’ve identified what the problems are, there are concrete steps you can take to solve these problems. And Gottman’s book, The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work, is a great place to start.

1. Harsh Startup: Startup refers to the way a conversation begins, and a harsh startup occurs when a discussion begins with criticism or sarcasm or contempt. According to Gottman, discussions that begin with a harsh startup inevitably end on a negative note, regardless of how much you try to make amends in between. Read More

When you’re facing a conflict in your relationship, one of the most effective things you can do to initiate a discussion that avoids turning into a fight is to learn how to soften your startup. The term softening your startup was coined by relationship expert John Gottman. And you can learn more about softening your startup, as well as many other self-help strategies to improve your relationship, in Gottman’s book, The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work.

Improving Communication By Softening Your Startup

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