Bridge: a short film on conflict resolution

Bridge is a fun animated short featuring four characters trying to cross a bridge. Due to its characteristics, something apparently simple will become a problem. The fear of losing an apparent "privilege" leads the individual to fight tooth and nail and forget to work side by side.

This short shows us the benefits of cooperation and the disadvantages of individualism in solving problems.

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A short film that tells us about cooperation

This week, the team of the Mensalus Psychological and Psychiatric Assistance Institute shares with everyone you "Bridge", a fun and illustrative short animation about a key element in problem solving conflicts: The cooperation.

But first of all, you can view the short film in the video below:

What does the short show us?

To talk about conflict resolution «Bridge» highlights the obstacles generated by confrontation and the advantages offered by cooperation. Something that at first glance seems simple, ingredients such as pride are responsible for making it very difficult.

How can we manage pride?

For example, reconnecting with the target. Pride diverts the thought towards oneself instead of being attentive to the totality of the here and now: the you, the me and the context. The fear of losing an apparent "privilege" leads the individual to fight tooth and nail, and forget to work side by side.

The result is a clear loss of effectiveness and an enormous loss of life. Identifying those beliefs that place us on alert and require us to defend ourselves from something that is not a true attack, is the first step to reconnect with the goal.

At the same time, we cannot forget to put ourselves in the other's shoes (a position that, sometimes, is closer than it seems). Pride disconnects us from the person in front of us.

What else do we need for cooperation to exist?

Often in a conflict there are positions or points of view that work from competition instead of coordination.

Look, the definition of "coordinate" responds to the act of joining means and efforts for a common action. Cooperation seeks precisely to act by uniting these efforts based on recognition. This is the only way to find a place for both of them and thus be able to “cross the bridge together”.

From Psychotherapy and skills training workshops, we put on the table strategies that speed up this recognition. One way to do this is by analyzing the situation from a spectator role.

And how does this role of spectator work?

Through dynamics that allow physical and emotional distance. Exercises that graphically show the relationships between the members of the conflict is a good strategy. An example is representations with figures (animals).

In them, the therapist formulates key questions that show the functioning of the protagonists. The objective is to promote empathy (I can better understand the position of the other) and formulate an expanded discourse on the reality of the moment (until then the discomfort obviated a part).

With all this information, the next step is to accompany the individual towards reflection, the formulation of new options and action. The range of proposals make the person more flexible and capable of recognizing the different sides of the problem.

What else do we take into account when analyzing all sides of the problem?

As constructivist therapists we understand the person as an investigator of his own life. Reality is not a clear concept, each of us builds his vision of the world from personal constructs (based on his own system of beliefs and life experiences).

For this reason, from our intervention we will help the patient to know how he constructs reality and if this construction is functional.

And what steps will we take to find out?

According to Kelly, there is a cycle of experience that is constantly repeated in our social relationships. This cycle consists of five steps: anticipation, involvement, encounter, confirmation or disconfirmation, and review. When we speak of analyzing the "faces of the problem" we refer, in part, to reviewing how the person experiences each of these phases. In this way we will be able to detect where difficulties appear and propose concrete alternatives (eg: “in In this case, what kind of anticipatory thinking would have brought me closer to my goal instead of walk away?")

Continuing with the analysis, there are different exercises that show the mental processes that make it difficult to conflict resolution (processes characterized by the repetition of negative thoughts about oneself and others). This type of therapeutic work increases awareness of the appearance of destructive thoughts, reduces their automatism and improves self-control.

When we find ourselves on a shared bridge where it is difficult to walk, perhaps it is time to consider how to reach out to others so that each other can cross.