Insight, Internalize, and Integrate
It can be argued that the real work of interaction or intervention begins here. We must take the insights we gain in classes and workshops, reading, media, and other sources and convert that information to our own memory, thought, and speech patterns, etc., then we must remember these concepts and skills at crucial moments while we are interacting and intervening with others.
Internalize
It is important to think about, and internalize concepts we are trying to integrate into our behavior.
Putting concepts into your own words and patterns of thought will make it much easier for you to use and remember them. Internalizing a concept makes it much easier to integrate the relevant skills in to the ways in which you interact and intervene.
For example, when I would study a text (doing course work in school), I would read a paragraph or section, close my eyes, and imagine that I was teaching this content to someone else.
If I could explain it in my own way, I would trust that I understood it. If I could not, I would have to go back and read it again and internalize it some more. Once I internalized it, I could remember it, apply it to other concepts in the class, and more easily use it in my life.
When you negotiate in an interaction or intervention with an individual it is at times helpful to ask them to summarize their understanding of the outcome (proposal and plan) to increase the chance that you both agree and to help others remember and proceed with the mutual resolution you've reached.
Note: Practice how you would do this so as not to sound authoritarian, parental, or condescending.
So, stop now and ask yourself, “how would I explain internalizing to someone new?”
