AuthRev Articles

Exploring the Curiosities of Connection

A Guide On Building Lasting Connections: How to Make and Keep Friends (pt.2)

Haven't read Part 1? Check it out here! Welcome back, friend. So, you’ve taken the leap. You got out of the house, met some people, maybe even asked for a follow-up hang. That’s huge. But now the question is: how do you make it last? Friendship, like any living thin...

by Sara Ness — Jun 17, 2025 authentic relating boundaries communication community conflict resolution connection consistency emotional intelligence empathy friendship friendship maintenance loneliness personal growth reflection relational intelligence relationships social skills trust vulnerability

A Guide On Building Lasting Connections: How to Make and Keep Friends (pt.1)

Are you lonely? Do you have a close partner or friends, or a wider social network? Do you have people you can connect with, and depend on? Whether or not you have these things, do you feel lonely day to day? Connection is a basic human need, but it’s one that many of us feel w...

Jun 17, 2025 authentic relating communication community connection conversaion skills emotional intelligence friendship loneliness mental health personal development personal growth psychology relational intelligence relationships self-awareness social anxiety social skills tips & tools vulnerability

What Kind of Bad Communicator Are You?

Introducing the Dark Art-chetypes Let’s face it, we’re all shitty communicators when we’re mad. Yes, dear reader, even you. Even me, the Queen of Authenticity. I’m extra “authentic” when I’m angry. I have so many feelings that need to be spoken, so many logical arguments for why I’m right, so muc...

Jun 06, 2025 anger archetypes communication styles conflict communication conversational power dark arts defensive behaviors difficult conversations emotional intelligence manipulation tactics personal growth power dynamics quiz-based learning relationship dynamics self-awareness shadow work

In a Sea of Noise

There’s a particular kind of emotional vertigo that hits when you finish building something serious and prepare to release it into the world, only to realize you’re releasing it into a landscape that feels like a discount bin at the world’s loudest personal growth convention. *beeee...

Jun 03, 2025 coach accountability communication tools conflict capacity conflict communication depth vs. hype emotional resilience fight lab integrity in training learning through reps long-term learning nervous system training non-performative coaching personal growth integrity practice-based course real-life conflict skills skill over style sustainable personal development teaching with rigor the art of difficult conversations trauma-informed practice

Work That Works

From tools to tactics By the time we had sifted through the literature, rejected the fluff, and traced the shared spine running through the best conflict models, we were left with something that looked promising on paper. But paper isn’t practice. Conflict, as we’d seen over and ov...

Jun 03, 2025 applied communication c4 model communication dojo conflict coaching conflict fluency conflict methodology conflict resolution skills context content concern connection conversation mapping emotional intelligence experiential learning facilitation training feedback practice fight lab leadership communication nervous system regulation practice-based training relationship tools somatic awareness the art of difficult conversations

Sifting the Sands

Researching Through the Noise When we began designing The Art of Difficult Conversations, we thought we’d be curating from a deep and credible field. Conflict, after all, is hardly a new subject. The literature goes back actual millennia. Entire professions exist to manage it, mediato...

Jun 03, 2025 attachment theory communication frameworks conflict research cultural sensitivity difficult conversations emotional regulation feedback models hostage negotiation identity and power interdisciplinary models leadership communication mirroring negotiation skills nervous system awareness practical communication tools practice-based learning radical candor critique somatic coaching tactical empathy the art of difficult conversations

A Framework for Conflict at the End of the World

In early 2022, Sara and I got a call from Rebel Wisdom. They had a problem: their community, despite being unusually bright, dangerously curious, and predisposed to that greatest of libertarian vices: solipsism, didn’t really know how to talk to each other. Their community was founded...

Jun 03, 2025 art of difficult conversations communication skills conflict resolution crisis negotiation de-escalation strategies difficult conversations emotional intelligence facilitation tools feedback skills group dynamics holding tension interpersonal skills leadership development nonviolent communication presence in conflict relational capacity relational intelligence self-regulation somatic awareness tactical empathy

Free Exposure Therapy

How to fight your dad - and win “You’re a failure,” he screamed at me. Red faced, spit flying from his mouth, hands balled into fists as he stared me down. “You never amounted to anything. And you don’t come home to visit!” I took a breath. Then I yelled back, just as loudly. “Don’t you want me t...

May 23, 2025 anger management arguments communication skills conflict resolution difficult conversations ecposure therapy emotional growth emotional regulation experiential healing family dynamics fight lab fighting better psychodrama ptsd recovery relational intellifence roleplay for healing somatic psychology trigger work truama-informed practice

Training Anger Management

How does state-dependent learning affect skill-building? Imagine this. You take a well-regarded communications course and learn the skills of curiosity, empathy, and self-expression. You come home and use the skills with your partner, which they love. Until…things go wrong. You’ve been practicing...

May 15, 2025 anger management communication conflict resolution conflict training curiosity difficult conversations embodied learning emotional regulation empathy experiential learning memory nervous system neurobiology psychology state-dependent learning

What I Want to Do With My Life (or, a commentary on community)

Balancing needs in a culture without collectivity I’ve been thinking a lot about what I want to do next with my life. After 13 years teaching communication and connection, I want to learn, contribute, and receive more. Meeting all these needs together will be hard. But I’ve been asking myself, “I...

by Sara Ness — May 02, 2025 collective collective identity communal living commune community community essays community living conflict & negotiation emotional intelligence group dynamics intentional community interpersonal dynamics living systems modern loneliness moral development personal growth prosocial psychology social health

Sitting in Uncertainty

The spiritual and scientific loss of a generation There’s a lot we don’t know. In science; in the world; in our lives. A lot we try to manage through action, when the iceberg of its totality is something we can barely touch. A lot we distract from. The main practice of our generation, it seems, i...

by Sara Ness — Apr 15, 2025 anxiety connection culture emotional wellbeing generational change grief loss mindfulness modern spirituality personal narrative post-religious identity presence reflection ritual uncertainty

How to Survive in Uncertainty

The science of why we struggle + my best strategies I didn’t know what to write on this morning. Most of my current research is on things like “how to do drywall” and “how to take care of chickens”, which…doesn’t seem like something y’all can learn more about from me than Youtube. (Welcome to far...

by Sara Ness — Apr 09, 2025 anxiety relief brain states coping strategies critical brain theory depression emotional intelligence existential tools mental health modern spirituality neuroscience personal growth philosophy resilience tools uncertainty

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