Problem-Solving and Conflict Therapy for Bipolar

Challenging Conflicts

Most of the conflicts that develop in our minds can be easily resolved. At most, you can clarify most of your doubts or conflicts that develop in your mind. Defining the key terms upfront is your ticket to solving problems effectively, even if it is in abstract or emotion-laden terms, for example, justice, progression, peace, freedom, germs.

We must learn to define our key terms, otherwise disaster may follow. For example, many people have died in the name of justice, peace, freedom, etc, yet realistically if people used their critical thinking skills to re-examine the situations, many people would have kept their lives.

Most people express their opinions, which is claimed to be a natural human activity. Yet, throughout the centuries people’s lack of ability to use critical thinking to find the facts to clarify the truth has led us to where we are today. Many people have suffered dearly by holding in their opinions and failing to discover facts that support their allegations. Thus, they suffered by acting defensive to others, putting themselves down and procrastinating.

When one builds critical thinking skills, one can learn to accept other people’s opinions although they may be different from yours. At one time, most people on the planet Earth believed that civil rights for women and blacks were unpopular and dangerous. What was logically accepted then was based on opinions without facts to verify that it was true. You see that opinions change over the years as we move into the 21st century into a better tomorrow.

Agree or disagree

We are not obligated to agree with anyone’s opinion. It is our human right to disagree. Critical thinking, however, allows us to take the time to discover the facts to either modify the opinion or else reject it. Most skilled debaters have built strong critical thinking skills that help them to sum up others’ viewpoints or opinions. Thus, skilled critical thinkers are more confident than those who express their opinions without facts to support them.

We all are different. Our habits, outlooks, preferences, values, fingerprints, etc, are all different to those of others. Our different traits are characterized by our upbringing, culture, experiences and decisions. Until you walk in another person’s shoes it is unreasonable of you to disregard others’ viewpoints without mindfully considering them first.

The call for Effective understanding

When a person uses effective understanding, they do not judge others. Throughout our lives teachers inform of us of things we may already know. Doctors prescribe medications before they diagnose the problem, etc. The point is, we grow and learn. To understand other people we have to sum up their opinions or viewpoints to clarify the meaning. Thus, we ask you to complete the exercise below:

Task

Find someone that has a viewpoint that you do not understand. Talk about the opinion with that person; sum up the person’s viewpoint. Keep summing up the viewpoint until you achieve an accurate learning of the person. On a piece of paper write out your experiences; including your feelings, thoughts, etc during the process. Diversity of opinions lead us to discover something new

Practice

When you have doubts about something, consider the source. Research the topic that is confusing to you.

After you discover something that had confused you before, write out what you have learned by summing up what you have read.

Challenge

On a piece of paper, challenge an opinion you disagree with. Consider the source of information. Use your thinking skills to practice defending the opinion that you think is either true or stupid. Keep in mind that your opinions differ from others in most cases.

Who told me that?

When it comes to verifying if something is true, you need to consider the source. Seeking contrasting viewpoints is smart because it helps us to challenge people’s opinions who have invested stock. For example, the President of a Tobacco company may dispute the fact that smoking may cause lung cancer or heart disease. Who do you believe? The president of the company has invested stock. Medical experts and scientists have linked factual proofs to smoking and lung and heart disease.

Discover alternative ideas

Take time to discover alternative ideas when in doubt. Do not suppress your opinions. Instead, take the liberty of checking out other sources to discover whether an opinion is true or not. When you move to discover new ideas, it helps you to find the facts. When you develop a fact-based system of ideas, it builds convictions that no-one can tear down.

Tip – Realize that most problems allow room for permanent solutions!

Questions lead to discovery

Part of the problem-solving process involves critical thinking skills in which you must use to question opinions. When critical thinking skills are broken down is the process can be defined as: ask questions, find answers. If you want to build, critical thinking skills effective follow the practice below.

Practice

Make it a practice to ask serious or critical questions that others find to be powerful, e.g. does war truly solve problems?

Critical thinking skills

Critical thinking skills, when used, will move you to ask questions, seek answers, evaluate opinions giving, examine the source and to check for alternatives to verify if any facts exist.

When you use critical thinking skills to find answers, try to find at least three supportive claims that back up a certain opinion of interest to you. When you accept one answer to a question, you eliminate other possibilities. When you check one answer and compare it to another answer, however, you build creative skills, find honest inquiries and find yourself swimming through a conceptual breakthrough. But, you must also take other actions:

Prepare

Critical thinking is a complex system because the world around us is complex and critical. Some of the answers you discover may be contradicting. Thus, it is important to prepare yourself for this by refusing to accept that your ideas should be methodical and organized. Thus, you must also be willing to change your mind.

Changing your mind

When arguments develop it is because most people come armed with opinions that they refuse to change and will not accept others’ viewpoints. When someone has an opinion that they are unwilling to change they may as well silence themselves for the rest of their lives. To avoid staying stuck in one state of mind. enter into discussions with an open mind.

When you have open discussions with others you are willing to accept new ideas. After using your critical thinking skills after you can either move to keep your own opinion or else you can challenge the notion that your opinion may be wrong.

Laying it on the line

When someone has an uncritical thinking mind, they block any new information that comes in and will reject new ideas. Scientists are people who will find one answer and change the answers for us later. They thrive on challenging the facts and opinions to discover something new. We all can join them to follow the basic steps to opening our mind to new ideas.

Always examine your problems from various perspectives. When you take time to examine your problems more closely and ask questions you make room for your mind to discover a way to solve those problems. If you think this isn’t true, take for example when scientists once though that the sun revolved around the Earth. Later, when new tools became available to them, they discovered that the Earth revolved around the sun. It was clear that this last discovery was true.

Write

Thoughts roam through our minds at blinding speeds. When you write, you slow down your process of thinking, which helps you to see things more clearly. When you re-evaluate your ideas written on paper, often you discover things you missed. When you write out your feelings on paper and review them, you soon start to see all of your viewpoints in full light. Thus, you are moved to think critically and thoroughly.

Summary

People who express their points of view often seek the truth. Some people believe that there isn’t a single truth to any viewpoint, which is untrue. In the next article we ask you to take time to discover and learn how you can explain why it is not logical to state that there is no truth.

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