How To Respond To An Insult

Often we counsel clients dealing with hostile work environments. This frequently includes helping them respond meaningfully to hurtful, insulting comments from either bosses or co-workers. Anyone who has been in that situation knows that a person’s usual response to a hurled insult right at that moment is stunned silence – but the person so wishes that they had the presence of mind to immediately utter the perfect comeback right at that moment!

Apparently there is a physical reason for our “stunned silence” response: an offensive or harmful comment activates the nervous system, and the parts of the brain that are responsible for coming up with a clever response are too focused on the perceived threat to be working at the same time.

The best thing you can do is to prepare ahead of time and have a few clever quips pre-prepared and ready to use if and when needed.

We will tailor quips for clients as appropriate to any situation. There was a very good article in TIME magazine recently that asked therapists to share their favorite comebacks in response to an insult. We share the link to that article here, and hope it will help you to become more prepared and empowered to help shut down the bully in your workplace.