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Archive for conflict coaching

24 Dec

Clear the Air New Year’s Special

You know you that conversation that you’ve been avoiding? Maybe it’s with a family member. Maybe it’s a friend. Or your boss. You’re dreading the conversation, but you know it needs to happen. Rather than letting the problem continue to fester and nag at you, why don’t you plan to tackle it this new year. Try conflict coaching to get ready.

If you schedule and pay for your coaching session by January 20, 2019, you can get 100 minutes of conflict coaching for only $100. This offer is limited to the first 10 people, so don’t delay. That conversation is a key to your fresh start in the new year. Be ready for it!

Contact us to schedule your Clear the Air coaching session.

Articles Bits Blog Blogs & Bits Communication Conflict conflict coaching Conflict Resolution Skills
31 Oct

Happy Anniversary! Reflections on My First Five Years in Business

On International Conflict Resolution day in October, 2013, I launched Progressive Conflict Solutions.

And by launch, I mean I sent a pretty email to a few hundred of my friends. It showed off a simple website I built myself (it’s been replaced), a logo I lovingly crafted with a designer friend (I still love it), and my vision for providing conflict resolution services. That vision included the hope that clients would leave with “a greater sense of peace, focus, and competence, which [would] help them reach their personal and professional goals.”

Five years later, that’s still my vision. I hope I’ve delivered on it!

I’m grateful for the families, businesses, and organizations that have entrusted me with their challenging conflicts and wishes for better conflict skills. Our work together has resulted in smoother running businesses, mended friendships, newlyweds with clear and non-divisive pre-nups, and siblings at peace with their mutual decisions about caring for their elderly parents. But closest to my heart, are the families that have uncoupled with dignity, respect, and an eye toward a healthy future. I’m honored to have held space for all of you during difficult times, supported you in making informed decisions, and watched you find clarity and optimism about where you want to go and how to get there.

I look forward to the next five years of helping you navigate your bumps and find your path.

Articles Bits Blog Blogs & Bits Communication Conflict conflict coaching Conflict Resolution Skills Divorce Divorcing
27 Oct

We’re the TOPS! Ranked in the Top 18 Mediators Out of 300 in Philly

 

Did you know of over 300 arbitrators and mediators in the Philly area, I’m ranked one of the top 18? Yep!

Expertise.com looked at 318 arbitrators and mediators in the Philly metro area and evaluated us on reputation, credibility, building customer confidence with licensing, accreditations, and awards, experience, availability, and professionalism. I’m happy to be recognized.

Articles Bits Blog Blogs & Bits conflict coaching Conflict Resolution Skills Divorce Divorcing Featured Mediation Professional Development
15 Mar

Speaking at the Annual Conference of the Pennsylvania Council of Mediators, April 22, 2017

I’m pleased to be presenting a workshop at the Annual Conference of the Pennsylvania Council of Mediators in Harrisburg. This year’s theme is practice challenges. The two-day conference will be kicked off with a full-day workshop with internationally renowned conflict resolution expert Bernie Mayer, who will present “The Conflict Paradox: The Dilemmas and Contradictions that Define our Work (and our Lives).”

On day two, I’ll sharing some of my unique approaches to mediation in “Coaching to Improve Mediation Outcomes: An Examination of Processes, Pitfalls, and Ethics.” The program description is below:

Careful and skilled application of coaching approaches can effectively support parties in making free and informed choices, deepen their understanding of the conflict, achieve greater clarity about their goals in the mediation, reach more thorough understandings about their decision-making, bolster their self-advocacy, and strengthen their commitment to and compliance with their mediated agreement. But the application of coaching techniques without care, caution, and skill, can raise questions about the mediator’s impartiality and potential for favoritism. We will examine how practices of conflict and personal coaching can be applied to support self-determination and avoid appearances of partiality.

Articles Blog Communication Conflict conflict coaching Mediation Professional Development Workshop
15 Mar

Our Birthday, Your Deal! (Expires April 30, 2017)

In honor of my BIG birthday (no actual number to be mentioned – but you can infer), I’m offering a gift to YOU. Contact me about conflict coaching before the end of April, and you’ll get the first hour for 50% off. That’s a $80 value to help you prepare for a difficult conversation, understand and improve your conflict responses, or strategize about how to better communicate with that tough person.

Blog Communication Conflict conflict coaching Conflict Resolution Skills Professional Development
27 Jun

Our Stories and Our Assumptions

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. But which words? The viewer is the author and gets to choose those words. And every day, we are creators of the stories we tell ourselves about the pictures we see. The stories you tell influence how you interact with the world – and even the story you tell about yourself.

Nieuwe generatie museumbezoekers in het Rijksmuseum / A new generation of museum visitors in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

A few years ago, this picture went viral on social media. I immediately started using it in my conflict resolution workshops. Why? Well, many (maybe most!) conflicts are underpinned with assumptions and we all make a lot of incorrect or at least unhelpful assumptions. If I had my druthers, we would refrain far more from assuming and instead explore and inquire to find out more information. But that’s not always an option. Sometimes we just have to deduce the story ourselves. But what would happen if we crafted a better story? A more positive story?

When most people see this picture of students in front of Rembrandt’s The Nightwatch at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, they see kids choosing to look at their phones instead of a masterpiece. The story they write is accompanied by admonitions like “Kids these days!”, “Smartphones are a terrible distraction” and similar sentiments. But that’s not the story we have to tell (and it’s also not the real story). We can choose to tell a more positive story: “The kids are using a museum tool to better understand the painting” or “They’re designing an app to increase art appreciation.”

The stories we tell ourselves about others influence us, them, and our relationships. A positive outlook can make you more resistant to pain, lower your cholesterol, and increase your longevity. It also helps you build skills to improve your personal relationships and workplace success and satisfaction. (Read more here and here and here too.) Positive story-telling is a key part of having or developing an overall sense of positivity and is a critical skill in improving your conflict management skills.

As with all conflict management skills, I encourage my workshop participants to practice using these skills before they are in a conflict. Positive story-telling is actually a fun skill to practice. There’s a scene in the comic movie Date Night where the married characters played by Tine Fey and Steve Carell amuse themselves by playing a game they call What’s Their Story in which they craft tales about other restaurant diners. (It’s pretty funny, but also pretty adult, so I’ll let you Google it yourself.) Try a twist on their game and challenge yourself to tell only positive stories about the people you observe around you. Next time you are out with time to kill, don’t grab your smartphone for a distraction. Look at the people around you and craft positive stories about them. Or better yet, engage your partner or kids in doing it with you! You’ll get a good laugh, but you’ll also train yourself to think more positively about other people.

Getting good at that? Try it for the people you know when they behave in ways that don’t make immediate sense to you. In the process, you will find that you have fewer unnecessary conflicts and also improve your ability to resolve the needed ones.

Happy storytelling!

Articles Bits Blog Blogs & Bits Communication Conflict conflict coaching Conflict Resolution Skills Professional Development
08 Nov

Workshop: Dealing with Family Conflict at the Holidays, December 10

Do you need better coping strategies?

Do you need better coping strategies?

Holidays are a tough time for many of us. You can’t fix your all family relationships by December 25th, but you can develop some strategies for making the holidays more enjoyable and less stressful.

Join me on Thursday, December 10, 7-8:30 pm for a workshop on Dealing with Family Conflict at the Holidays. We’ll talk about conflict survival strategies and answer your questions about your particular holiday family challenges and “what ifs.” Fee: $20. Register for the workshop here.

 

 

Communication Conflict conflict coaching Conflict Resolution Skills Event Family Listening Workshop
10 Aug

Conflict Quotes ~ Robert Greenleaf on Communication

2015-08-10 Greenleaf

03 Aug

Conflict Quotes ~ Charles Eisenstein on Judgement

2015-08-03 Eisenstein

03 Aug

Conflict Quotes ~ Oprah Winfrey on Foregiveness

2015-08-03 Oprah forgiveness quote

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Progressive Conflict Solutions
24 Veterans Square | Media, PA, 19063 (by appointment only)
Ellen@ progressiveconflictsolutions.com | 610-312-1463

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