Today’s guest is Dr. Mylien Duong, Senior Director of Research at The Constructive Dialogue Institute, where they define Constructive dialogue as a form of conversation in which people who have different values, beliefs, and perspectives seek to build new ways to understand and interact with each other, even as they sustain commitments to their own principles and perspectives. The format is ideal for discussing important, complicated issues that can divide people.

Mylien helps to build out evidence-based content for having constructive dialogues, and oversees measuring the efficacy and effectiveness of the programming and learning content that the Institute puts out.  So far programming offered by the Institute: 

• Has impacted over 50K learners 
• Is being leveraged by 900+ Institutions 
• Shows that 86% of learners improved communication across difference
• And, 95% of educators recommend their programming

Their work has been featured in Time Magazine, Forbes, The New York Times, Harvard Business Review, Oprah Magazine, Psychology Today and more

In today's conversation we are going to dive deep into the topic of how to have constructive dialogues including: 

• Part of Mylien’s story about how she came to this work
• The 5 principles of Constructive Dialogue that the Institute has established
• The role of curiosity
• The power of storytelling, and witnessing people’s stories
• The importance of humility, self-worth, and feeling that you matter
• What role emotion intelligence and nervous system regulation plays
• And more!

More about Mylien:

Dr. Mylien Duong has deep expertise in developing scalable behavioral interventions. Trained as a clinical psychologist, she was previously a senior research scientist at the Committee for Children, where she led the research to develop a social-emotional learning program for teachers in K-12 schools. Prior to that, she was faculty at the University of Washington, where conducted federally funded research studies to develop and test behavioral interventions for children and youth in school and juvenile justice settings. A researcher through and through, she has received over $17 million in grant funding and published over 40 scientific articles and book chapters. For more on the Constructive Dialogue Institute please check out https://constructivedialogue.org/

Did you find this episode inspiring? Here are more conversations we think you'll love:

Dr. Marc Brackett - Permission to Feel: The Power of Emotional Intelligence

Dr. Daryl Van Tongeren - The Transformative Power of Humility

Dr. Kelly McGonigal - Finding the Hope, Connection, and Courage to Transform

Enjoying the show? Please rate it on Apple Podcasts!

Thanks for listening!

Support the show