The distrust has been set in stone for years — deeper than any one session can reach.
Recognize this situation? Below are the Liberating Structures that change it — a concrete example, and the reason this one fits here. New to Liberating Structures? Here's what it is.
For example: Two departments have been operating with mutual distrust for six years, built up over several incidents that were never really voiced. A single two-hour facilitated session gets scheduled to "fix" that.
Liberating Structures for this situation:
Heard, Seen, Respected (HSR)
Heard, Seen, Respected won't resolve years of distrust in one session — that would be a dishonest promise. What the structure actually does: in pairs, someone tells a five-minute story about a moment they didn't feel heard, while the partner just listens and asks "what happened next?"
That's a careful first step, not an endpoint: being truly heard once doesn't change a years-long pattern, but it is the kind of experience a longer process can build on — not the process itself.
No certification, no lengthy prep — read the steps and try it at your next meeting.
Keep exploring
Browse the full list of 43 structures, or get support if this situation is too complex to facilitate yourself.