Conflict-Cycle Diagram

How to use it

1. With a qualified clinician, decide whether shared mapping is safe and appropriate.
2. Use separate lanes to note triggers, meanings, protective moves, impacts, escalation, needs, and possible off-ramps.
3. Record differences in power, choice, risk, and consequence rather than forcing matching contributions.
4. Pause or stop if mapping increases fear, blame, pressure, or retaliation risk.

Reflection prompts

• Where are power, freedom to choose, and consequences different between people?
• Which actions require individual accountability rather than mutual reframing?
• What off-ramp, boundary, or outside support would be safer than direct discussion?

Facilitator guidance

Screen for abuse, coercive control, intimidation, and retaliation before joint mapping. Do not convert unilateral harm into a mutual cycle or use contextual understanding to dilute accountability.

Adaptations & accessibility

• Map each person's perspective separately and do not compare without explicit consent and safety assessment.
• Use color-independent lanes, icons, AAC, translation, or clinician scribing.
• Replace a circular diagram with a timeline when recurrence or symmetry would misrepresent events.

Review considerations

Enhanced couples/family abuse-safety specialist and second licensed-clinician review required before use.