Meaningful Alignment by Susan Steinbrecher

Author:Susan Steinbrecher [Steinbrecher Susan and Schaefer Robert, Ph.D]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: -
Publisher: BookBaby
Published: 2019-04-14T16:00:00+00:00

Wednesday afternoon, Carl left the office early and drove to the train to pick up Maria and Sam. The three rode in silence to Flora’s office. By 3:45, they were seated in the waiting area: Maria flipping through a magazine, Carl checking his email and Sam scrolling through social media. Just a little before 4:00, Flora came through the main door.

“Good afternoon, everyone! Just give me a minute to hang up my coat, and we can get started!”

Carl and Maria stood up and started walking slowly toward the office door. “Sam, come on,” Maria said in a loud whisper.

Flora motioned them toward the sofa. “Please take off your coats and get comfortable,” Flora said as the three sat down on the sofa.

Flora noticed that Sam was still scrolling through his social media feed, head down, still wearing his coat. “Sam, would it be OK if you put your phone away while we are here together?” Flora asked. Sam looked up with an exasperated expression and put his phone back in his coat pocket.

Maria looked over at her son. “Sam…coat.”

“OK, OK,” he said under his breath as he shrugged off his jacket.

Flora began, “Well it’s great to see all of you here today. This is not something I usually do, but I felt it would be helpful. So here we are…and how are all of you feeling about this?”

“Well, I’m happy to explore different communication styles and how we can understand each other better,” Maria offered.

“That’s great, Maria. Carl, what about you? I think you felt it might be enlightening for the three of you to learn more about the results of one another’s assessments and how your varying profiles can incite certain issues at home.”

Carl took a deep breath before answering. “Yes, and I know that I’ve definitely been part of the problem when things haven’t gone well at home.” He looked first to his wife and then over to his son. “I take full responsibility for my actions, and I just want to say to you both that I know I’ve been a bit of a jerk lately…and I’m sorry.”

Flora felt a difference in the air, as if a powerful shift had just jolted through the room. What a change! Going from feeling like everything was everyone else’s fault to this…? This was what it was all about. This was why she was dedicated to this work.

Sam spoke first. “Yeah, Dad, you have been pretty hard to deal with. But at least you admit it.”

“I know, Sam. I’m trying to change that.” Carl felt grateful in that moment that he had arrived at this point. That he wasn’t just reacting—he was actually thinking rationally and not regretting his words as soon as they tumbled out of his mouth. He was trying. He was making progress.

Maria smiled and nodded knowingly. “Sam, I think your dad is doing much better. We have to encourage each other, right?”

“That is true, Maria. Well, it might be helpful for us to look at the results at this point.

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