A parent using Better Conversations - which can be accessed on a PC or a mobile phone - is given the opportunity to respond to an opening statement written from the standpoint of an partner or ex-partner.
For example, one of the scenarios used in Better Conversations is of a separated parent being late to collect their son for the weekend. The parent using Better Conversations is therefore asked to respond to the opening statement: “What time do you call this?’ by choosing from two statements in reply.
Better Conversations is designed so that each time the parent is given a choice of two statements, one is likely to increase tensions between the partners or co-parents, while the other is likely to decrease. Information bubbles appear on the screen when the parent chooses on or other of the statements, explaining why the statement they have chosen may increase or decrease tension.
When the parent makes a choice of statement, this then leads to a response from the person playing the role of their partner or ex-partner. This continues until the parent has completed the programme.
Better Conversations therefore gives parents a real-time experience of what it is like to navigate difficult conversations, but with help to think about and explore how the statements they make in response to their partner or ex-partner can ramp up or reduce the conflict between them.