Julie walks the group through a framework she is developing, aimed at couples who need to have hard conversations without a therapist in the room. She lays out the three conversation types, the roles each partner takes in them, and the short list of blocks that derail almost every stuck conversation. A running example about crumbs on the kitchen counter carries the whole session. Members write about a topic of their own, and Julie takes questions, works live with one couple, and asks the group for feedback on the model itself.

Covered in this session:

• The three conversations: connecting, healing, and solution, and why you can only pursue one goal at a time

• Connecting conversations: a sharing partner and a receiving partner, where the goal is feeling heard and validated, not agreement or solutions

• Healing conversations: the wounded and wounding roles, accountability, reassurance, and why switching roles may need to wait days

• Solution conversations: safety first, solution next, and why both partners must trust their needs will be considered

• The blocks that derail conversations: negative cycles, personal history getting triggered, unclear goals, leaving your role, wrong order, and bad timing

• Building capacity to stay steady when you get triggered mid-conversation, and telling your partner's behavior apart from your nervous system's memory

• Q&A on repeated lack of follow-through, what to do with a trigger rather than how to avoid it, and helping a partner who either cannot find words or uses too many