Coaching practices for The Satir Model as a Parent

Describe almost anything you are working through and IX Coach finds the practices whose real-world fit is closest. For The Satir Model as a Parent, these are the strongest matches in the current practice library.

Does this sound like the set of challenges you might be facing?

  • When I’m upset it all comes out as "you did this, you always do that"
  • Every time a conversation gets tense I snap into the same reaction without choosing it
  • I want to be able to say the true thing in a hard conversation without either shrinking myself to keep them comfortable or steamrolling them to protect myself
  • I’m starting to sense my defensive habits in conversation all trace back to a quiet belief that the real me wouldn’t be accepted
  • Every conversation with my kid about their behavior turns into me laying down the law and them digging in, and I want a way to actually talk it through together

Practices that may help

  1. The Satir Model
    Virginia Satir’s model identifies four defensive communication stances people adopt under stress — Placating, Blaming, Computing, and Distracting — each driven by low self-worth. The fifth stance, Congruent communication, aligns what you feel, what you say, and your regard for yourself and the other person simultaneously. Satir used the model clinically with families and couples; the goal is not to eliminate the stances but to recognize them and choose congruence.
  2. Correct blaming by adding accountability for self
    When blaming, add an honest account of your own contribution to the problem.
    The Satir Model
  3. Recognize your own defensive stance under stress
    Identify which stance you default to when threatened — placating, blaming, computing, or distracting.
    The Satir Model
  4. Practice congruent communication
    Say what you feel, about what you observe, while caring for both yourself and the other person.
    The Satir Model
  5. Work on the self-worth beneath the stances
    The defensive stances protect against low self-worth — building the worth reduces the need for protection.
    The Satir Model
  6. Use Plan B: the three-step collaborative conversation
    Empathize with the child’s concern, share yours, and invite them to solve it together.
    Collaborative Problem Solving (Ross Greene)
  7. Constantly distinguish the map from the territory
    A model is a simplification — know precisely where yours breaks down.
    Mental Models: Charlie Munger’s Latticework Approach
  8. Sportscast what you see rather than directing
    Narrate the play without evaluation, question, or instruction.
    Special Time (Lawrence Cohen — Playful Parenting)
  9. Accept your role (not its outcomes) as your commitment
    Commit to the role — parent, manager, friend, citizen — as a practice, with its obligations, not as a guarantee of outcomes.
    The Stoic Reserve Clause
  10. Correct computing by adding the emotional layer
    When you’ve gone cold and logical, add the feeling that’s driving the analysis.
    The Satir Model

Related concerns

Describe your situation in your own words to search the complete practice library.

Practice this with IX Coach

Try this practice