Pause
Coming SoonA Communication Translation Platform for Conflict Resolution
Slower is the point.
Join the WaitlistThe Problem
When emotions run high, people stop hearing each other. What gets said and what gets heard become two different things. The noise—attacks, absolutes, contempt, defensiveness—drowns out the signal: actual needs, legitimate concerns, underlying feelings.
What Pause Is
- ✓A translator between what you said and what they heard
- ✓A signal filter that removes emotional noise
- ✓A neutral third party with no stake in the outcome
- ✓Built on established mediation and NVC frameworks
What Pause Is NOT
- ✗Therapy or psychological treatment
- ✗A judge deciding who is right or wrong
- ✗Legal advice or a substitute for professional help
- ✗A guarantee of resolution—only of understanding
There's a gap between what you say and what they hear. That gap is where relationships go to die. Not because people don't love each other. Not because they don't want to work it out. But because the noise—the history, the hurt, the patterns—drowns out the signal.
Pause sits in that gap. It receives the raw, messy, emotional thing you're trying to say. It finds the signal underneath: the actual feeling, the actual need, the actual request. Then it confirms with you: "Is this what you mean?" Only then does it deliver the message in a form the other person can actually hear—without triggering their defenses.
How It Works
Voice-First Translation
Speak naturally. Pause receives raw, emotionally-charged input, extracts the underlying signal, and delivers a cleaned message the other person can actually hear.
NVC Extraction
Based on Marshall Rosenberg's Nonviolent Communication framework—extracts the observation, feeling, need, and request from every message.
Four Horsemen Filter
Identifies and filters criticism, contempt, defensiveness, and stonewalling—the patterns Gottman identified as predictors of relationship failure.
Speaker Confirmation
"Is this what you mean?" Only confirmed messages are delivered. You stay in control of what gets communicated.
Safety System
Detects crisis signals, abuse patterns, and therapy-level issues. Warm handoffs to professional resources when needed.
Calm Voice Interface
Not text-to-speech—a voice with presence. Calm, measured, warm but neutral. Pacing communicated through intentional silence.
The Four Horsemen Filter
Based on Dr. John Gottman's research, these are the patterns that predict relationship failure. Pause identifies them and extracts the signal underneath.
Criticism
"You never think about anyone but yourself"
→ Extracts the unmet need
Contempt
Mockery, eye-rolling, moral superiority
→ Surfaces the underlying hurt
Defensiveness
Counter-attacking instead of listening
→ Identifies the perceived threat
Stonewalling
Shutting down and withdrawing
→ Recognizes emotional flooding
Operating Modes
Couples Mode
Two-party mediation with turn-taking and confirmation loops.
Family Mode
Multi-party dynamics with relationship mapping.
Business Mode
Professional disputes with solution-focused framing.
Self-Reflection Mode
Solo processing to clarify your own thoughts before a conversation.
Safety System
The most important system in the application. Pause recognizes when it is out of its depth and exits gracefully—without abandoning the person in need.
- ●Crisis detection with 988/Crisis Text Line handoff
- ●Abuse pattern recognition with DV hotline referrals
- ●Therapy-level issue detection with BetterHelp/Talkspace referrals
- ●Legal boundary recognition with appropriate disclaimers
- ●Continuous confidence scoring—knows when it's out of its depth
Core philosophy: Detect early. Name gently. Refer clearly. Don't abandon.
Who It's For
Couples who love each other but can't hear each other when things get heated.
Business partners dissolving decades of friendship over money they could actually work out.
Families where every holiday becomes a minefield of old wounds.
Anyone who's ever walked away from a conversation thinking: "Why can't they just understand what I'm trying to tell them?"
Built On
- ◆Model Standards of Conduct for Mediators (ABA/AAA/ACR, 2005)
- ◆Nonviolent Communication framework (Marshall Rosenberg)
- ◆Gottman Method research (Four Horsemen, de-escalation)
- ◆APA Ethics Code principles
Why "Pause"?
Not speed. Not efficiency. Not "communicate better in 5 minutes a day."
The space to breathe. The space to be understood before you respond. The space between what you said and what they heard.
That's where we live.
Everyone deserves to be heard.
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