you can simply point out what you noticed to enter the conversation: “I noticed that you share a lot of the details of your remodel with me…” “I noticed that you like to put paper bags in that drawer…” “I noticed you scheduled eight appointments for Barry this week and only 3 appointments for me.” “I noticed I sent an email on Monday and you responded to me on Friday.” These are just a few examples among the millions of things you could notice in your interaction. The purpose is to bring up the challenging topic directly in a curious and neutral way. Using the phrase “I notice” removes an
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