Understanding Difficult People

Are difficult people stressing you out? This book gives you easy-to-apply strategies to help you understand and develop more positive relationships with them.

Do you know how to deal with difficult people who are aggressive, manipulative, passive, or demanding? This book will help you understand them and address issues that may arise between you and cause distress. Iris Barrow draws on her wide experience in counselling and organisational training to identify these people we might find difficult and offers easy-to-apply strategies for developing positive relationships with them. Whether it’s the aggressive co-worker, the rude sales assistant, the know-all who dominates the conversation at a party, the colleague who makes life unpleasant for everybody, or a loved one who is particularly awkward from time to time, people with different ways of behaving can make us very upset. Even more common are behaviours that stem from others' insecurities. The introverted teenager, the bragging neighbour, that tricky person at work may all be trying to hide an underlying belief that somehow they are 'not good enough.’ Recognising and understanding the signs can revolutionise the way we deal with these people. The practical skills and approaches outlined in the book give us power to break through their self-imposed barriers.