How to Deal with Dysfunctional Relationships
A Transformational Learning Project by Amanda Huynh
- Goal: The goal of the project is to motivate participants to evaluate the dysfunctional relationships in their lives and take action as needed using Mezirow’s Critical Approach to transformational learning. It is important to note that this project is not aimed at those who suffer domestic violence or abuse, since the variables are very different.
Objectives:
- Evaluate a dysfunctional relationship in their life.
- Consider the pros and cons of maintaining the relationship.
- Develop an action plan.
Audience: Anyone who is struggling to maintain a healthy relationship with someone in their life.
- Rationales: In this project, I will be using Mezirow’s Psychocritical Approach. Composed of 10 phases, my project will focus on the four main components, experience, critical reflection, reflective discourse, and action.
- Experience: As adults learn new information through personal experience, they will undergo a crisis when their new learnings challenge their past understanding/experiences.
- Critical Reflection: As learners acknowledge their own limitations, they recognize the need to explore other perspectives.
- Reflective discourse: By sharing experiences, learners discover that they are not alone in their problems, as other learners experience the same problems.
- Action: Through sharing and learning from others, learners will develop a new mindset and perspective to help guide future behaviors.
2. Design
Modules | Activity | Content | Rationale |
1. Identify a challenging experience in Learning Journal | Participants are asked to pinpoint a specific challenging experience in their Learning Journal that they’ve hadwithin a dysfunctional relationship, specifically, one that has challenged their prior beliefs about the person/relationship. | Using a provided Learning Journal, participants will write about their challenging experience. They are guided to answer the following and explain the experience in detail. | By identifying their personal challenging experience, learners will be able to use a concrete experience as a point of reference throughout this project. |
2. Reflect on Experience | Participants are asked to answer reflection questions in their Learning Journal about the situation. | The Learning Journal prompts the following questions: - How did this experience make me feel? - What surprised me about this experience? - What about this experience challenges what I believed about this person/relationship before the experience? - Did either party benefit from the results of the experience? If so, who? - Am I willing to experience this experience again? · What are the pros and cons of continuing this relationship? | By using critical reflection, participants can understand their own limitations and discover the need to explore other perspectives and solutions to the situation. |
3. Participate in Sharing Circle with other participants | All participants of this project will participate in a loosely guided Sharing Circle. Participants are encouraged to share their experience, listen to others’, and offer their perspective. The ideal mode of the Sharing Circle is in person, however, Zoom and online forum options will be offered to those who want to share anonymously. | An instructor will loosely guide the Sharing Circle. The instructor will guide participants to share, listen, and offer perspective. Participants should use their Learning Journal to take notes of other perspectives/solutions offered. | By engaging in reflective discourse,participants can feel seen and heard while listening and sharing their experiences. |
4. Identify and implement solutions and perspectives into an action plan | Using the Learning Journal, participants will be guided to reflect on what they’ve learned during the Sharing Circle. Participants will also have a one-on-one with the instructor to discuss their learnings and develop an action plan. | The Learning Journal asks the following reflection questions: - Write about one experience that was shared in the Sharing Circle. What advice would you give to this person? What did you learn from their experience? - List 3 pieces of advice you learned from other participants in the Sharing Circle. - What advice were you given after sharing your experience? How did you feel after receiving this advice? Participants will also meet with their project instructor to develop a personalized action plan. Some action plans include the following steps: - Establishing boundaries - Limiting contact - Creating a solid support system | After reflecting on the Sharing Circle, participants have learned from one another and have added new tools to their toolbelt. Participants will meet for a one-on-onewith the project instructor to discuss their learnings and action plans to take action in their future behavior regarding their dysfunctional relationship. |
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