Bridge: An Animated Short About Cooperation And Conflict Resolution
Bridge is a fun animated short which features four characters trying to cross a bridge. Due to its characteristics, something seemingly 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 advantages of cooperation and the disadvantages of individualism when solving problems.
A short film that tells us about cooperation
This week, the team at the Mensalus Psychological and Psychiatric Assistance Institute shares with all of you “Bridge”, a fun and illustrative short animation about a key element in conflict resolution: cooperation.
But first of all, you can watch the short film in the video below:
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 like pride make it very difficult.
How can we manage pride?
For example, connecting again with the objective. Pride diverts thinking toward the self rather than remaining attentive to the totality of the here and now: the you, the self, and the context. The fear of losing an apparent “privilege” leads the individual to fight tooth and nail, and forget about working side by side.
The result is a clear loss of effectiveness and enormous vital wear and tear. Identifying those beliefs that place us on alert and require us to defend ourselves from something that is not a real attack is the first step to reconnect with the goal.
At the same time, we cannot forget to put ourselves in the other’s place (a position that, sometimes, is closer than it seems). Pride disconnects us from the person in front of us.
What more do we need for cooperation to exist?
Often in a conflict there are positions or points of view that operate from competition rather than coordination.
Notice, the definition of “coordinate” responds to the act of joining means and efforts for a common action. Cooperation seeks precisely to act by bringing together these efforts based on recognition. This is the only way to find a place for both of us and thus be able to “cross the bridge together.”
From Psychotherapy and skills training workshops, we put on the table strategies that expedite this recognition. One way to do this is by analyzing the situation from the role of spectator.
And how is this role of spectator worked?
Through dynamics that allow physical and emotional distance. Exercises that graphically show the existing relationships between the members of the conflict are a good strategy. An example is representations with figures (animals).
In them, the therapist asks key questions that show the functioning of the protagonists. The objective is to promote empathy (I can better understand the other’s position) and formulate an expanded discourse on the reality of the moment (until then, 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 makes the person more flexible and capable of recognizing the different faces 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 their own life. Reality is not a clear concept, each of us builds our vision of the world based on personal constructs (based on our own belief system 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 follow to discover it?
According to Kelly, there is a cycle of experience that is constantly repeated in our social relationships. This cycle consists of five steps: anticipation, implication, encounter, confirmation or disconfirmation, and review. When we talk about analyzing the “faces of the problem” we are referring, 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 (e.g.: “in this case, what type of anticipatory thinking would have brought me closer to my goal instead of further away?”)
Continuing with the analysis, there are different exercises that demonstrate the mental processes that make conflict resolution difficult (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 automaticity and improves the ability to self-control.
When we find ourselves on a shared bridge that is difficult to walk on, perhaps it is time to consider how to reach out to others so that each of us can cross.
