A woman who is in your shelter feels neglected. Twice you are interrupted when you are talking to her because of severe emergencies. You apologize both times and continue your discussion with her, but you are short-staffed and things at the agency are unpredictable. The second time this happens, when you are able to get back to her, she cannot remember what she had been saying. That upsets her. She says, “You all sure can find plenty of reasons to avoid talking to me. Every time I sit down to talk about my case, you get up and run off. Now I can’t remember where we were. I don’t see you running off when you talk to Alice or Cindy. Just seems like every time I need help, well, you have something more important to do.” What is your initial response?

In the examples that above, formulate an initial response to the anger and criticism you hear. On a separate piece of paper construct your answer, looking at the steps for disarming anger, and use those steps that seem appropriate. The four steps are: 

(1) thank the person for the comments, 

(2) ask for more information, 

(3) find some point on which you can agree, and (4) begin to look for a negotiated solution.