My dad is no monster, he is just very poor at communication. He simply does not understand how his words can affect others. Says stuff like
“Your profession will soon be useless (coding)”
“Are you not ashamed that you were not in the military and your friends were?”
“You need to think of others before you think of you”
As you can see most of his advice comes from a good place (he really wants to help) but it has this underlying tone of
* Always look for flaws in your character
* Always look for potential dangers in life
* Always put others needs ahead of your own needs
And since in recent years these “advices” have really ramped up, most of the family has started avoided talking to him because we leave most of our conversations with him anxious, not validated and frustrated.
I tried many times to explain to him what effect his words have on others but he keeps deflecting. But he **did** agree to read a book with me to maybe understand.
So I was wondering if there is any book that comes to mind. The issue can be seen from many points
* Child & Parent relations
* Lack of empathy towards others
* Lack of empathy towards himself
I found “Nonviolent Communication by Marshall B. Rosenberg” which sounds like a good start. What do you think?
by sta6