Making Difficult Interactions More Respectful

The Science of Happiness

PRX and Greater Good Science Center

Science, Social Sciences

4.4 • 1.9K Ratings

🗓️ 14 September 2023

⏱️ 18 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Dr. Omar Guzman reflects on how a practice to cultivate more respect shaped the way he interacts with his patients.

Link to episode transcript: https://tinyurl.com/2fwen962

Episode Summary:

As an ER doctor in an overworked healthcare system, Omar Guzman isn’t always able to build the relationships with patients the way he’d like to. For our show, Omar tried a practice called the 7 Elements of Respect. By contemplating his own motivations and biases, practicing deep listening and prioritizing relationship-building, Omar was able to develop a meaningful connection with a patient and was reminded of why he decided to pursue medicine. Later, we hear from Diane Johnson, the creator of this practice, to learn more about the multifaceted aspects of respect, and how developing empathic relationships can shape and strengthen our sense of community.

Practice:

Acknowledge the conflict and affirm your commitment to understanding and moving forward.
Ensure that you are staying honest and true to yourself.
Hear new perspectives by practicing deep listening.
Recognize the importance of emphatically interacting with others.
Let go of any pretenses or sense of ego by practicing humility.
Notice how these actions affect your internal motivations.
Practice building relationships and connections with others.

Today’s guests:

Omar Guzman is an ER doctor in Visalia, California.

Diane Johnson has a PhD in Organizational Behavior and is a consultant focused on leadership, change management and organizational development. She is the creator of the 7 Elements of Respect.

Learn more about Diane and her work: https://www.mmapeu.com/

Resources from The Greater Good Science Center:

Four Ways to Help Your Coworkers Feel Respected: https://tinyurl.com/2p8uvhnb
How Do We Ensure That Students of Color Feel Respected?: https://tinyurl.com/5n8534ek

What Middle Schoolers Can Teach Us About Respect: https://tinyurl.com/4ua4va6s

Five Ways to Have More Constructive Disagreements: https://tinyurl.com/tt26uy84

More Resources on Cultivating Respect:

MIT - Creating a Culture of Respect: https://tinyurl.com/44kzr95s

NYT - How to Be More Empathetic: https://tinyurl.com/nf675dkk

BBC - Deep Listening: Finding common ground with opponents: https://tinyurl.com/yjby4zjx

How do you cultivate respect in your life? Email us at [email protected] or use the hashtag #happinesspod.

Help us share The Science of Happiness!

Rate us on Spotify and share this link with someone who might like the show: https://tinyurl.com/mszb2wfx

This episode was supported by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation, as part of our project on "Expanding Awareness of the Science of Intellectual Humility." To learn more, go to https://tinyurl.com/2dj6hw29

Transcript

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0:00.0	So Larry County is basically a physician desert, not enough physicians to treat the community
0:12.0	as it deserves, which puts a lot more stress on the emergency department and hospital
0:19.0	system to kind of meet up for that.
0:22.8	It really takes a lot of the humanism out of medicine, and so when we talk to patients
0:27.9	about simple things like bringing in your child with a fever, for us, it's, well, you
0:33.2	don't have an emergency, you need to take some Tylenol, it's probably where I'll go home.
0:37.7	But for the patient, this is my child, and I think there's something wrong with him,
0:41.2	and that's why I brought them to you.
0:43.5	You know, I want to treat people with respect so that I can earn their respect.
0:47.6	And that's one of the reasons that I went into medicine.
0:57.9	Welcome to the Science of Happiness, I'm Dacker Keltner.
1:04.6	Our guests today challenge us to think about respect and humility as important tools for
1:09.6	strengthening relationships, nourishing us as individuals and communities.
1:14.4	Dr. Omar Guzman is an emergency physician in an underserved community in California Central
1:19.5	Valley.
1:20.7	He tried and exercised to form and nurture more meaningful relationships through a practice
1:25.6	called the Seven Elements of Respect.
1:29.5	Dr. Diane Johnson created this practice and later she'll share how cultivating respect
1:35.4	can affect us both at the individual and community level.
1:39.3	If we peel back the components of respect, there's something about the simplicity that hopefully
1:48.4	it makes it less daunting.
1:51.6	Or after this break.
	...

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