According to John Gottman, there are four destructive patterns of communication that can cause serious damage to a relationship. He calls them the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
So far I have covered Criticism, Defensiveness and Stonewalling. Each of these patterns is capable of causing serious damage to a relationship, but it’s the fourth horsemen, Contempt, that is the most deadly.
In Gottman’s research he found that when contempt has hijacked a couples communication, it’s the biggest predictor of divorce.
Listen to this short video to learn what contempt sounds like and what can be done to reverse its course.