Got Conflict? If you have a conflict with someone and are not sure how to handle it, then let us know. Here is your opportunity to ask your question with Conflict Management experts who are mediators, conflict coaches, and facilitators on how to think about, analyze or resolve your situation. Think about it. Are you currently engaged in an active…

It seems that incivility has become the norm in our communities easily escalating to heated debates, protesting and violent riots. Civility is a human right in today's global society. As global citizens, civility is vital to peaceful and harmonious co-existence of individuals, groups, organizations, and nations. Civility is a proactive approach to prevent incivility and…

The Dalai Lama recently co–authored an op-ed in the New York Times that I put aside for a bit.

And I reread it this week after speaking to someone about helping people who are homeless.…

When I counsel couples in my practice, I always try and get a “feel” for who gets what priority in the family. Are spouses each other’s priority? Or do the kids come first? Most importantly, what is the family structure, and are things a bit wonky?

For families with small children, I’ll ask the question, “who comes first,” and nine out of ten times, each parent will say “the children.” It’s not surprising, since we’ve been taught that children’s needs should always come…

What's Happening in Conflict Resolution is a roundup of the all the ADR news, research, jobs, events and more. Check it out, and view past versions [HERE].…

Anyone out there remember the weird cults of the ’80’s and ’90’s? I do – and I REALLY remember wondering: Why would all these seemingly normal people follow someone preaching such a bizarre doctrine?

After a while, I figured out the followers weren’t your usual run-of-the-mill folks – oftentimes, they were former drug addicts, formerly incarcerated folks, and generally misguided souls. So, why were these particular types of people so attracted to what we most of us consider a…

Whether it’s a difficult co-worker, a demanding boss or an angry client, you can learn to handle conflict at work effectively by managing your internal reactions first. Kathi Elster and Katherine Crowley show us how to cool down, then find the words to move a potentially hazardous work situation forward in a constructive manner. Join Kathi, Katherine and Pattie Porter…

Several months ago, I read in the paper, that the new governor of South Carolina was a man known for his ability to ‘disagree affably.’

I wasn’t quite sure what the reporter meant by this because she didn’t site any examples.

However, I thought it would be a good opportunity for me to share a list of words and attributes I thought described being “affable.”

People who are affable are:

• pleasant;
• easy to approach and to…

We write a lot about conflict on our blog (it’s a conflict resolution blog, after all!). But, I fear we don’t pay enough attention to our inner conflicts – those that we fight in our heads and hearts.

One of the most common inner conflicts is how we present ourselves to others vs. how we really feel about ourselves. The conversation is appropriate, after all, considering how many people have a “Facebook-self” or “Instagram-Self” that’s far different from their “real” selves.…

Recognition and Appreciation are skills that leaders use every day, or should. Join Kathy Stark and Scott Russell as they…

We all want to be our best self, but sometimes we get off track.

When this happens, we feel unhappy, weighted down and stuck.  And our poor attitude negatively affecting our relationships with others. We are short tempered, petty and argumentative.

Last year, I attended an advanced mediation training and learned this very simple tool to start to understand where we want to be — as opposed to where we are.

First you need sticky notes in two…

What's Happening in Conflict Resolution is a roundup of the all the ADR news, research, jobs, events and more. Check it out, and view past versions [HERE].…

The Texas Conflict Coach® Blog Talk Radio program announces our programs for March.

The following episodes will air every Tuesday from 5:00-5:30 pm PST/7:00-7:30 pm CST/ 8:00-8:30 pm EST.

These days, the word “role” can garner a pretty negative reaction – few of us like being defined by anything, much less a “role” we’re supposed to play in our relationships. But, the mental health community agrees – roles can actually be pretty useful, as long as they’re healthy.

What I often find, however, is that role confusion contributes to quite a bit of distress and conflict, especially in relationships.

Take a woman who is a wife, mother, daughter, and sister.…