Questions For Media Interviews

FOR INTERVIEWS FOCUSED ON
DEALING WITH THE RELENTLESSLY DIFFICULT, TOXIC PEOPLE DR. RHOBERTA SHALER CALLS “HIJACKALS®”: 

TOPIC: Freeing Yourself From Crazy-Making Relationships

1. When things go sideways in a relationship, they can range from annoying to downright crazy-making. When do I know I need help?
2. You make a distinction between difficult people and chronically difficult people. What’s the difference?
3. You created the term, Hijackals, for these chronically difficult people.  How do you define “Hijackals?”
4.  Listeners can get a free copy of “How to Spot a Hijackal” at Hijackals.com  What are the top few ways you can know if you’re with one, or related to one?
5.  What’s the first thing a person needs to do if they recognize they are with a Hijackal?
6. Is it always necessary–or a good idea–to leave a Hijackal?
7. What is it that makes you attractive to Hijackals?
8. How can you stop this pattern of interaction? What does it take?
9. What are the best next steps if someone listening has just realized Hijackal patterns in their relationship and they want to stop the crazy-making?
10. How can listeners learn more about you and your work?

FOR INTERVIEWS FOCUSED ON DR. SHALER’S BOOK, KAIZEN FOR COUPLES:

TOPIC: Shift Your Relationship From Acceptable to Exceptional!

1. Why did you write KAIZEN for COUPLES: Smart Steps to Save, Sustain & Strengthen Your Relationship?
2. What are the major issues that most couples find difficult to resolve on their own?
3. In the book, you say “These days, many couples start their supposedly committed relationships with conditionally committed behaviors and mindsets. Then they wonder why they run into difficulties.” Why do you feel that way?
4. What’s the most important thing readers will learn from KAIZEN for COUPLES?
5. People listening to this often struggle with not feeling heard, appreciated, or accepted in their relationships. What’s your best advice on how they can deal with that?
6. How has the internet made it easier for people to get the relationship help they need?
7. If you had only one piece of advice to give to couples, what would it be?
8. How can listeners learn more about you and your work?

FOR INTERVIEWS FOCUSED ON IMPROVING HOME, WORKPLACE AND COMMUNITY RELATIONSHIPS:

TOPIC: Healthy Relationships Require Assertiveness

1. Many people find being assertive challenging. Why is that?
2. What is the basis for being comfortably assertive?
3. In your book, Kaizen for Couples: Smart Steps for Saving, Sustaining, and Strengthening Your Relationship, you give a strategy that exemplifies your definition of assertiveness. Would you share that with us?
4. You say that many people have difficulty using that strategy. Why is that?
5. Why is it important to know how to respond when someone else uses that strategy?
6. Why is assertiveness required for relationships to be healthy?
7. What happens when assertiveness is not present? In a couples’ relationship? In a workplace relationship?
8. Being positively assertive builds influence, and that’s desirable. There is, of course, the thing most people fear about being assertive: coming across as aggressive. What do you have to say about that fear?
9. In your book, Wrestling Rhinos: Conquering Conflict in the Wilds of Work, you talk about passive-aggression. What is that, and why does that endanger all relationships?
10. You work with clients worldwide through video conferencing. If someone wants to work with you, what is their best next step?

FOR INTERVIEWS FOCUSED ON SOUL SOLITUDE AND INCLUSIVE COMPASSION:

TOPIC: Why Inclusive Compassion Is Essential To  Healthy Relationships & Effective Living

1. What is the difference between what we think of as compassion, and what you call “inclusive compassion?”
2. Why is this a fundamental shift in thinking for many people?
3. How do the concepts in your book, Soul Solitude: Taking Time For Our Souls To Catch Up, lead to the shifts required for Inclusive Compassion?
4. If I am practicing Inclusive Compassion, how will my life be different?
5. Many people think of assertiveness with trepidation. Why is it–as you say–an inalienable right to be assertive?
6. You are known as The Relationship Help Doctor. What makes Inclusive Compassion essential to healthy relationships, whether they are with your partner, your parent, or the person in the supermarket?
7. Your specialty is working with the partners, exes, adult children, and co-workers of what you call “chronically difficult people.” How does Inclusive compassion apply here?
8. How can listeners learn more about your relationship work?

 

TO REQUEST AN INTERVIEW, SEND AN EMAIL TO assist@ForRelationshipHelp.com