Texas Conflict Coach

Mental health includes decision making, communication, and handling life’s pressure. When an adolescent has a mental health disorder, it may negatively impact the person’s ability to handle stress and interact with others. The National Advisory Mental Health Council estimates that 1 in 5 adolescents suffer from one or more mental disorders. Although mental illness can be mistaken as normal adolescent development, there are signs and symptoms that an adult can recognize. Recognizing these hidden mental health signs early can be important in preventing teen substance abuse, family conflicts, school violence, or even suicide in teens. Dr. Cynthia Morton is a licensed professional counselor who works with adolescents in grades 9-12. In addition to her licensure, she is a certified mediator, peer educator, and youth mental health first aid trainer who trains adults and teens in peer mediation, peer helping skills, and peer listening. She conducts extensive training in the areas of suicide prevention, crisis, and

From top Corporate business woman, to internationally acclaimed author, Anita Telle talks to us about how her child being bullied, changed her and her son’s life as well as the lives of many people from around the world. She has a mission: To teach acceptance and love to children ages 4 – 9 so they will grow up to be amazing, supportive and loving teenagers, immune to peer pressure and bullying. She also has a story to tell. And it’s an important story; one that touches everyone, everywhere, from every culture. But it is especially important for children: Being different IS normal. We are all different, in different ways. As a very involved mom, Anita realized just how much she loves children and created the first ever “feel good” Gnomy’s Boo-Boo Bears for children with a unique story for each Boo-Boo-Bear. Anita is furthering her love for children and is now focusing on anti-bullying because her son Branden was born with a cleft pallet/lip and was bullied for being different. As a mom, she asked herself wha

Learn how conflict coaching can help you change those dynamics to manage conflict and communicate more productively with your aging parents and adult siblings.  You will learn what a conflict coach does, and will take away some tips on how to get unstuck from patterns of communication that aren't working as you navigate the difficult conversations that come with aging. Carolyn is a mediator, teacher, trainer and conflict coach. Certified by the Maryland Council for Dispute Resolution, Carolyn is qualified to mediate for the Maryland Circuit and District Courts.  She has been an active trainer for mediators and for service providers in elder mediation, issues around aging, and mediation skills since 2001. Carolyn was a co-founder and first tri-chair of the Elder Decision-Making Section of the Association for Conflict Resolution, and chairs its Training Standards Committee. She is an adjunct professor at Shepherd University and at Anne Arundel Community College where she has taught in the Institute for the Fut

Families today are assuming responsibility for the informal care of over 75 percent of elderly family members and are often faced with difficult decisions from a bewildering array of choices:? e.g. estate planning, financial issues, and guardianship.? In the best of circumstances, this can be a stressful process and sometimes leads to disagreements, confusion, and conflict at a time when the best intentions of the family are to work together for the needs of a loved and respected aging family member. With the help of a trained professional mediator, family members share information and perspectives, explore and evaluate options, and develop workable solutions through a process that promotes open and positive communication.? The mediator is a neutral, who does not offer advice and believes that each family is unique and knows best what solutions will work for their family as a whole.? For families in conflict or simply wanting help through a transition elder care mediation offers a process which can reduce str

In our third episode of the series Conflict and Empathy: Where Has Empathy and Compassion Gone? Edwin Rutsch, Center for Building a Culture of Empathy and I will discuss how do we foster empathy in a family?   Edwin will share some personal stories of how he has personally fostered empathy in his extended family and how he used Restorative Empathy Circles to heal family conflicts. Edwin Rutsch is the founding director of the Center for Building a Culture of Empathy. The CultureOfEmpathy.com is the largest website on the Internet focused on nurturing and fostering empathy. After spending 10 years as a seeker traveling, working and studying his way around the world, Edwin worked for many years in the computer technology field. After discovering the power of empathy, he has dedicated his life to raising the level of empathy in society and building a global culture of empathy. For More Information: Edwin Rutsch  

We hope that we, and our family and loved ones will come together in the kindest ways when someone we care about is dying. We hope the shared experience of loss will bring out the best in us. But grief and loss brings all kinds of feelings to the surface-sweet memories and shared pleasure right along with sorrow, old wounds and resentments.  And of course, fears about our own mortality. There are ways to care for ourselves, clear the air before conflict arises and work together to tend our broken-open hearts and bring a healing balm to the dying time of life. Rose Gordon is the founder of Circle of Compassionate Care, dedicated to serving people who are dying and their families. Rose acts as a midwife for the dying during this deeply meaningful and challenging time of their life. She has a degree in Hospice and Grief Counseling and over 2 decades of direct experience with the dying and their families. Rose worked with the Office of the Medical Examiner, served for 5 years as Director of the Being with Dying

What constitutes a ‘good death’? How and where are people dying? Are the needs of the dying being met? How can we advocate for a “good death”? Considering we are all going to die and lose loved ones at some point in time in our journey through life, these are all important questions to explore. Recently there has been an increased emphasis on the importance of addressing healthcare disparities in end of life care. This increased emphasis is mostly as a result of a bountiful of research on how dying patients are invisible in many acute healthcare settings in the United States and are victims of healthcare disparities. That is, certain groups receive lower quality of care than others. Worse than being a dying patient, is being a dying patient who is perceived by medical personnel as belonging to a different race, culture or ethnicity. These biases that lead to disparate treatment are often present at a subconscious level. Dr. Jacqueline N. Font-Guzmán is associate professor at the Werner Institute at Creighton

All over the world, people think about divorce and do not know what to expect from the process, what they will have to arrange and how long it will take. This anxiety comes on top of the stress of the divorce itself, worries about the costs or accessibility. And the possible contentious relationship. Today, the rapid changes in technology makes accessing the justice system amenable to all regardless of where you live in the world. Our guest, Jin Ho Verdonschot from the Netherlands will discuss how one can get their reasonable and fair divorce using online technology throughout the entire dispute resolution process. He will discuss the pros and cons of a virtual mediation experience based on an online divorce project developed in the Netherlands. Dr. Verdonschot will also share how this technology can be used for other types of disputes involving your neighbor, landlord-tenant and employer-employee disputes. Dr Verdonschot is Head of Justice Technology and Justice Technology Architect at HiiL Innovating Justi

Persons aged 65 and older are the fastest growing part of the population, and many families confront sometimes difficult decisions about care-giving, housing, health care, estate planning, and end of life planning for aging parents and other family members. Bob Rhudy, president of Senior Mediation and Decision-Making, Inc., Baltimore, Maryland, discusses the types of services that senior (or “elder”) mediators provide to help families manage and resolve conflict in these matters. Robert J. Rhudy is in private practice as a lawyer, mediator, facilitator and consultant, and has been president of Senior Mediation and Decision-Making, Inc., Baltimore, Maryland since 2007. He is a past chair of the Association for Conflict Resolution's Elder Mediation Section (2008-2010).  Bob developed and directed the Maryland Senior Mediation Project during 2005-2009 and created and directed the Maryland Court of Special Appeals Office of Mediation during 2009-2012.   He has provided senior mediation training and consulting ar

Louise and William's new book, Being Relational, details seven ways of being in relation to others that capture the heart and soul of all that is self-help, grounded in method, and supported by relational conflict theory and brain science findings. The ways of being that promote quality face-to-face dialogue and lasting positive change are rooted in teachings from many sources and are also inspired by the experience of thousands of people for whom the Senfts have mediated, fostering personal strength and connectedness through quality interaction. In this program, Louise and William will share insights into their practical and inspiring approach that the listeners can immediately apply to their stressful interactions as well as, check in on and grow into, as a way of being in relation to others. Louise Phipps Senft and William Senft (Baltimore, MD) are business and law professors, mediators, lawyers, entrepreneurs, parents of five children, and in William's case, youth sports coach and clergy. In their many y

Family businesses are the backbone of many world economies. In the US, family businesses employ nearly 63% of the workforce and contribute 57% of GDP. They are also responsible for nearly 78% of new job creation. It is highly likely that many people listening may be part of a family business or will be working for a family enterprise of some description. There are some good reasons why they contribute so much and that creates special conditions, challenges and characteristics which makes mediation very effective in ensuring the ‘specialness’ is not consumed by disputes. In this program, Amanda Bucklow will discuss what that specialness is, how to identify the early warning signs for emerging problems and what you can do about them, wherever you are in the ‘business’. Amanda Bucklow has been in full-time practice as a commercial mediator since 1995 and has specialised in negotiation and conflict resolution for most of her working life. She has worked in three family businesses including her own. Amanda is als

Like many conflict resolution or ADR professionals who start as a mediator, it doesn’t take long before a mediator doing workplace cases in one organization begins to wonder about the organization’s culture, communication, or leadership skills. “If only the organization had better practices, the mediation (or coaching or training or group facilitation) wouldn’t be needed”, many have thought. When working within an organization, the conflict resolution professional may begin to see issues or trends across departments that may suggest systemic issues. Now what? Explore the opportunities and challenges to communicate organizational issues to senior leadership by considering: When is an issue systemic? How is it assessed? How is it communicated? What next? Who is responsible? Consider these issues from the perspectives of an internal conflict resolution consultant at a company and an organizational ombuds at an educational institution and academic medical center. Rita Callahan has been a conflict resolution prof

Today’s organizations require that workers be adaptable. Truly effective leaders know how to follow and how it feels to be a follower. Conversely, in order to be a productive team member, one must understand the difficulties of being a team leader. The daily “dance” between leaders and followers requires mutual understanding and a balance of give and take. As the great Chinese philosopher, Lao Tzu, said: “To lead, one must follow.” In this program, Yael Schy, creator of the Teamwork Tango®  leadership training approach, shares her philosophy and methodology of using partner dancing principles and exercises for helping leaders and followers in organizations to work together more collaboratively and effectively. Yael Schy is a leader in using expressive arts in organizational learning and development. She is principal of Dramatic Strides® Consulting, specializing in leadership development, communication skills, teambuilding and creative decision-making techniques that help people and organizations move forward

How long does it take to get defensive? What kind of impact does it have? Sharon Ellison will demonstrate how to defuse defensiveness, often instantly, whether you are talking to a co-worker or are a manager needing to give feedback to an employee.  Sharon Strand Ellison is an international consultant, pioneer in the field of eliminating defensiveness and the author of Taking the War Out of Our Words. A nominee for the Leadership in a Changing World, Sharon has been a keynote speaker for the Texas Bar Association; The Center for Dispute Resolution, London, England; and The Smithsonian Institute. She has provided training for organizations in more than a dozen professions, including: Hewlett Packard, the US Department of Justice, Wells Fargo, Kaiser Permanente, and United Way. More Information:  Sharon Strand Ellison Stephen Kotev is a Washington D.C. based conflict resolution consultant offering mediation, negotiation and facilitation services, conflict coaching, training and somatic education to private a

Conflict in the workplace is inevitable, but Toxic, difficult workplaces are not. Mediation is a tool that can help. And sadly, most HR professionals don’t know this. They think mediation is not for them, when in fact they are effectively mediating all the time. Come learn why mediation is vital for your career and also your workplace! John Ford is the founder of the HR Mediation Academy and author of Peace at Work: The HR Manager’s Guide to Workplace Mediation. He mediates; trains; and consults to organizations that have accepted the inevitability of conflict and are seeking to approach it with greater clarity and confidence. He was the managing editor of Mediate.com from 1999 to 2011, and is a past president of the Association for Dispute Resolution of Northern California. More Information:  John Ford

In a globally converging business environment, it is common to find multi-cultural and multi-generational talent pool. Managers may face challenges to effectively manage this diversity. Join us as our guest, Prabu Naidu will share his experience in helping managers and organizations in Asia navigate in this rough waters. PrabuNaidu– CMF, CPF is the co-founder and CEO of Facilitators Network Singapore. He is an Organizational Development consultant working in the Asian region and is third generation Singaporean of Indian origin. He is also a Board Member of The International Institute for Facilitation (INIFAC). More Information:  PSP Singapore (Personal Strengths Publishing Singapore) and Learning Matters

Amid accelerating change and globalization, companies are faced with the difficult challenge of thinking globally while acting locally. Companies are in dire need of leaders who possess an exceptional ability to accelerate business in complex and multicultural environments. However, working in a multicultural environment is complex and causes many misunderstandings. Even if you never leave the US, the increase in the rate of globalization will likely have you working with a peer, employee or boss from a different national, cultural background. Join us to find out how these cultural misunderstandings take place and how you might prepare yourself to overcome them. Dr. Katrina Burrus, PhD, MCC has a proven track record in coaching numerous international leaders. Her coaching career has taken her to Europe, Asia and the United States, and she is recognized for her distinctive capabilities with leaders and teams from a wide variety of cultural backgrounds. MKB Conseil & Coaching specializes in leadership coac

Andrew Lock, being the only Australian to summit all 14 of the world’s 8000m peaks has met with many challenges. Tragedy, exhaustions, sacrifices and his own near death experiences are all part of his “Mountaintop Adventure”. Teamwork and Leadership take on a new meaning when faced with such physical and mental demands. Join in as Andrew shares his achievements, why he does what he does and how he handles conflict while he travels the terrain. Andrew Lock is the most accomplished high-altitude mountaineer in Australian history. He is the only Australian, the first person in the entire British Commonwealth, and just the 18th man in the world, to climb all fourteen of the world’s 8000 metre mountains.  His achievements encompass 18 summits of those 8000 metre peaks, including Mt Everest (twice), three times that of any other Australian, placing him in a select group of the world’s best alpinists. Additionally, Andrew accomplished the first Australian ascent of 6 of those mountains, a record that can never be b

Theater of Witness is a form of performance in which the true life stories of people whose voices haven’t been heard in society are performed by the storytellers themselves as a way for audiences to bear witness to significant social issues. The theater productions are scripted from individual and group interviews as well as a variety of creative process techniques and consist of scripted text, music, movement, imagery and film projection. The productions are created with the performers who themselves have directly experienced the issues being explored. Theater of Witness invites audiences to put a face and heart to societal issues of suffering and to celebrate the power of the human spirit to grow and transform. Theater of Witness is a form of peace building and inspiration. Teya Sepinuck is the founder and director of the Theater of Witness model of performance that gives voice to those whose stories haven’t been heard in society. Teya is the recipient of the Philadelphia Human Rights Award for Arts and Cu

In many situations we see our decisions as an ‘either/or’ dilemma. Author and Ph.D. Bernie Mayer argues in his new book, The Conflict Paradox, Seven Dilemmas at the Core of Disputes, that the real challenge  is to find a new path that incorporates both approaches. These apparently opposing conflict practices need not be mutually exclusive—in fact, each is necessary to the other. Bernie Mayer is aProfessor of Dispute Resolution, at The Werner Institute, Creighton University. For over thirty years he has been a leader in the conflict resolution field. Bernie has facilitated many complex environmental conflicts, commercial and organizational disputes, interpersonal conflicts, public decision-making processes, and has an extensive background in family mediation as well. He is a founding partner of CDR Associates, a pioneering conflict intervention firm. Bernie is the author of many books and articles. His lastest book is, The Conflict Paradox, Seven Dilemmas at the Core of Disputes.  Stephen Kotev is a Washingt