That's why I almost always give constructive criticism in person.
This example represents a combination of active-constructive (talking with the person you are angry with) and passive-constructive (using time to cool down) strategies of anger regulation (Rivers et al. 2007): I think, you know, if you are really angry, I think you can say it.
I have been involved in peer counseling since college and am a firm believer that therapeutic sharing through counseling, journaling, meditation, etc can be a constructive part of every person's life, especially those of us caring for the well-being of others.
It isn't constructive to tell a person with PD, as I've seen done and heard at workshops, "Oh, we all forget things," "Just get up and keep moving," "Everybody loses their balance," or "You look pretty good to me," especially if on that day the amount of forgetting is intense, the ability to move barely there.
This approach provides a means for the relative to find constructive engagement with the person with dementia and the care home, which may be helpful in reducing some of the negative aspects experienced by many relatives in this position (Woods et al., 2007).
A person giving constructive criticism will usually point out both the flaws and the strengths in your piece and make suggestions on how you could fix the flaws.
You can always find something positive to say when giving someone constructive criticism, even if it's just the effort the person showed.
Critiquing on the former makes your criticism constructive and will empower the person; critiquing on the latter will just make the person feel bad since she can't do anything about the situation, even if she wanted to.
Giving feedback on a person's personality - Rather than say, "You're so negative and I find it really hard to deal with you," which is hurtful and not constructive, try turning this into a constructive criticism by letting the person know how their behavior affects you.
