The Texas Conflict Coach® Blog Talk Radio program announces the following episodes starting

in the month of  January, held every Tuesday night from 7:00-7:30 pm CST/8:00-8:30 pm EST.

To participate, either go to the designated link for each program or call-in

live at 347-324-3591.

January 1st :   Becoming Conflict Competent: Your New Year's Plan

                         Host:  Pattie…

Bootcamp meets bandcamp: scenes from a mediation training

Brad Heckman- Folks, we just wrapped up a 40-hour Basic Mediation Training, putting 26 people from all walks of life on the path of joining New York…

Forgiveness is a powerful tool for clients who are up against difficult, and seemingly insurmountable, conflicts. It creates a pathway from conflict to a deeper place of understanding and compassion. Because Forgiveness integrates all levels of conflict -- physical, emotional, mental and spiritual–it uniquely enables clients to experience the…

When we begin to experience irritation about something happening with another person, our thoughts and feelings sometimes go to places that are not helpful for the situation and relationship with the other person. We may not always be aware of what is exacerbating things, but before we know it our initial responses have taken twists and turns that only serve to complicate matters. As things expand in our minds and hearts, we often find ourselves more and more conflicted, confused, and upset.…

The Organizational Ombuds profession and individual practitioners enjoyed a good year.   The top ten stories of 2012 from the Ombuds Blog show that the profession continued to improve and expand.

[Runner Up] Among Other Things, Paula Broadwell Was an Ombuds -- Who know that one of the year's most intriguing newsmakers once…

The National Institutes of Health office for internal conflict resolution in Bethesda, MD is offering a full-time internship for the Summer of 2013. (Exact start and end dates are negotiable.) Under the supervision of an NIH mentor, the intern will focus on one major project and will observe and assist with individual consultation sessions; mediation processes; group facilitation; conflict resolution system development and…

Folks, we just wrapped up a 40-hour Basic Mediation Training, putting 26 people from all walks of life on the path of joining New York City's largest civilian peacebuilding force. This was a pretty eclectic group -- including a mother & daughter, a hypnotist, a couple of triathlete trainers, and three people from Switzerland. (Yep, we were teaching the Swiss about neutrality. Oy.). Here's a little photo essay to give a sense of how we roll -- combining visual,…

Negative emotions arise all too frequently in our daily lives, feelings such as anger, irritation, fear, confusion and worry, to name a few. These emotions trigger stress and simultaneously block our ability to feel grounded and centered. They also negatively impact our health. EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) is a powerful, fast, portable and easy to use tool to handle…

Find it difficult to get people to trust you online? Email negotiations or conversations end up in flame wars? There are reasons, and solutions, for this.

I’ve uploaded my first paper on this subject at http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1722065.   A few years have gone by, and the principles hold firm.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!

The Origins of Deep Conflict

As I prepare to become a conflict specialist,  I will be charged with the task of listening ... really, deeply listening. Conflict specialists in any discipline are not to guess of the content of someone’s conflict. We are to understand and to do that we need to listen and then ask the right questions so we can more fully understand.

I have been observing the sound bites, blogs, posts, news stories, conversations, and bewilderment…

Virtuoso sitarist Ravi Shankar passed away this week.  George Harrison called him the father of world music, for introducing the sitar to the west...

...and to the Beatles.  I recently gave a presentation on the…

The expression “what is on the lung is on the tongue” causes me to smile, as my mother used to say it about people who say whatever is on their mind – uncensored, unthinkingly, and impulsively. When I searched for an explanation of the derivation and meaning of this expression, I could not find it anywhere. Considering that perhaps my mother came up with the expression gave me even more reason to smile. Knowing her it would appeal to her that she made a rhyming commentary on the nature of…

Professor Rachel Monaco-Wilcox of Mount Mary University reviewed Transformative Mediation:  A Sourcebook and found that it was accessible to non-mediators and helpful to anyone interested in conflict.  You can read her whole review in my latest blog entry here.

This program highlights the works of Rebecca Shafir, neurotherapist and speech and language pathologist. She is author of the book, “The Zen of Listening: Mindful Communication in the Age of Distraction.” We will explore listening myths, the 4 characteristics of being a mindful listener, examine listening stoppers, and tips for listening to…

When the significance of having over 1500 people participate in an online conference sunk in, I needed to explore what brought them there. Of course, individual motivations differ, but by talking to people from different backgrounds, some themes emerged. The bottom line: There are more reasons for you to participate than you imagined.

I’ve already told the story of what went on at Cyberweek 2012 in previous blog posts,…

Yesterday, animal mediation specialist Debra Voda Vey Hamilton interviewed me for an upcoming telesummit she’s producing. This is one of the stories I told.

When I was fresh out…

I like the tune of Adele’s song “Rumour Has It” and there are some lyrics that strike me as relevant to conflict. Consider the lyric “Just ‘cause I said it, don’t mean that I meant it”. This is a great quote relating to conflict though unrelated to Adele’s intention. For me it reflects what often happens in disputes because many of us say things we don’t mean or intend. At these times many of us speak from reactive and emotional places and say and do things that hurt and don’t help the…

Our conversation will focus on what to do to prepare for those family gatherings so that you don't lose your cool.

• Have you ever felt you have to perform like Martha Stewart and be the perfect hostess?
• Or, maybe you wanted to start a new tradition but it is met with resistance because “we’ve always done it this way!”
• Do you get tired of the constant battle of who to visit, so instead you rush around to 3 or 4 family households in a day? Exhausting!
• We…