All New – 2018 Summer Conflict Management Institute – A Success!
“It gave new ways for analyzing complex, multiparty disputes.”
The Center of Dispute Resolution has expanded its training offerings!
For five days in June, the Center held the first Summer Conflict Management Institute. Sessions included a broad array of topics including Conflict Triage, Dealing with Challenging Behavior, Overcoming Impasse, Giving and Receiving Feedback, Best Practices for Representation in Family Mediation, and Powerful Non-Defensive Communication. Some people attended a single session; others attended multiple sessions.
The participants included lawyers, therapists, social workers, staff from two human service agencies and a transportation company. The sessions were highly interactive with participants engaging in discussion, sharing experiences and practicing new skills.
In the Challenging Behavior Workshop, we looked at how some behaviors cause us to react in less than positive ways in a negotiation or mediation, how to address specific situations and engage with high conflict personalities. Participants mapped out personal plans for dealing with challenging behaviors. One participant concluded that “it was easily relatable to every day issues and conflicts that arise.”
In the Powerful Non-Defensive Communication (PNDC) workshop, we examined some of the underlying models and assumptions in how we communicate and then introduced PNDC concepts, techniques and basic tools for: (1) questions; (2) making statements, including (a) feedback to others, and (b) expressing our own thoughts, feelings and beliefs; and (3) predicting consequences as a way to set limits. One participant said she was able to “focus on how I could get my power back in different ways.”
“The best part was how the personal experiences of participants were woven into the course as it unfolded.”
Coming up in January, the Center will offer an Advanced Mediation Training, in March the 40-Hour Mediation Certificate Program and sessions are being planned for the 2019 Summer Conflict Management Institute. Stay tuned for more!