Claire de Mézerville López welcomes Sethu Laxmi Nair to the Restorative Works! Podcast.

Sethu speaks with us about her work in conflict management and how she has seen global, political, and cultural events weigh heavily in instances of interpersonal conflict, acknowledging collective exhaustion that has become a norm in the modern human experience. She discusses her work with Hidden Water and their unique approach to addressing childhood sexual harm and healing with those who are harmed, those who have caused harm, and the affected families of both parties. Through her varied work responsibilities, Sethu describes how isolation and shame play major roles in workplace and interpersonal disputes and offers us examples of how this plays out in our relationships.

Sethu is a mediator, facilitator, coach, and trainer in the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) and restorative practices fields. Through her work, Sethu improves interpersonal and social dynamics by enhancing leadership capacity and conflict competence among leaders and groups. Currently, she serves as the director of ADR and restorative practices at the Center for Creative Conflict Resolution within the New York City government. She is a volunteer at Hidden Water, where she facilitates restorative circles to heal the impact of child sexual abuse in the family system.

Through her private practice, Sethu consults with organizations offering a unique blend of leadership coaching, workshops, and restorative conflict management to leaders in non-profit organizations and companies. She offers Responding Restoratively, a foundational restorative practices training with a focus on conflict resolution. Sethu has also worked with various human rights organizations in New York and India. Sethu is a graduate of SUNY Purchase and the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University.

Tune in to learn more about Sethu's work and perspective on mediating workplace conflict, childhood sexual harm and healing, and how an isolation mindset is changing the way we connect and thrive as humans.