I really enjoyed Harville Hendrix and Helen Hunt’s (Harville’s wife) workshop at the AMFM conference. Harville developed IMAGO therapy which you can learn more about at his website. He had a couple demonstrate the  Imago Dialogue which is very similar to the Speaker/Listener Technique. It was amazing how much he helped them draw out of each other through one simple appreciation.

Here are a couple of simple but memorable concepts:

a. Opposites attract, get married and attack.

b. Often we try to annihilate our partner verbally.

c. Major things that effect marriages are male/female differences, personality types of the partners, Family of Origin issues of each partner, and each partner’s history both with each other and prior to each other.

d. We often have communication collisions, but the corrective lens is the practice of listening.

I look forward to someday hearing more from Harville. He seems like someone who has really learned a lot professionally and personally over the years about making marriage work.

Just a side note: As we were eating dinner at the resort one evening we were able to see Harville and Helen going for a walk outside. Just the way they held hands and walked was a testimony to the closeness of their relationship.