ABSTRACT
The following demonstrates how to facilitate effective dyadic communication by reducing it to a few fundamental components. By "effective dyadic communication," I mean "dialogue" as defined by Buber (1958) and Jourard (1968). Undoubtedly, were these scholars yet alive, they would charge me with "nimis simplicandum," or making mole hills out of mountains. However, I tend to view such simplification as justified on the basis of its purely utilitarian or practical value. Married couples in particular have often requested some kind of basic, concise method to improve their communication as soon as possible. Suggesting books to read was all well and good, but most often they didn't get read. I wanted a model, or rather, a compact system of ideas on communication that I could teach to clients rather quickly that could facilitate their using them immediately.
