Co-creating Peace

Welcome to “Deck the Halls, Not Your Relatives” - Episode #45 of Co-creating Peace – a podcast series about conscious communication and conflict transformation. 

Holidays are usually thought of as a time of gathering with family and loved ones, and creating joyful memories. For some families, there is a different experience. Some people find themselves embroiled in family conflict during the holidays, and wishing they could deck one relative or another. Rachel Yarrington joins me to talk about why that is and what we can do about it.

Rachel Yarrington is a certified mediator, ombuds, and licensed mental health professional.  She provides mediation and consultation services to couples, families, and organizations seeking to resolve conflict and repair relationships.

Share your thoughts, reactions, feedback & ideas with me. I'd love to hear from you!

Please support Co-creating Peace:

• Subscribe to Co-creating Peace on your favorite podcast provider
• Send me your ideas for topics and guests or be a guest to talk about your communication or conflict resolution challenges and receive free communication coaching
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• Become a patron at www.patreon.com/CocreatingPeace

 Visit BridgesofPeace.com to learn more about Kathleen and her work.

Welcome to Part 2 of "Using NVC® to Speak Your Truth” - Episode 44 of Co-creating Peace – a podcast series about conscious communication and conflict transformation. 

Last week Jack Lehman and I had a great conversation about how NVC uses observations, feelings, needs, and requests, as part of its communication structure. We discussed identifying our feelings and some understandings and tools that we can utilize to express them clearly and safely. In this episode we continue that conversation.

Jack Lehman is a Clinical Mental Health Counselor licensed in the State of New Mexico, and a Certified Trainer with the Global Center for Nonviolent Communication®.  

To learn more about Jack and his work, contact him at: [email protected].

Share your thoughts, reactions, feedback & ideas with me. I'd love to hear from you!

Please support Co-creating Peace:

• Subscribe to Co-creating Peace on your favorite podcast provider
• Send me your ideas for topics and guests or be a guest to talk about your communication or conflict resolution challenges and receive free communication coaching
• Share on social media & tell the world about Co-creating Peace! 
• Become a patron at www.patreon.com/CocreatingPeace

 Visit BridgesofPeace.com to learn more about Kathleen and her work.

Welcome to Part 1 of "Using Nonviolent Communication® to Speak Your Truth” - Episode #43 of Co-creating Peace – a series about conscious communication and conflict transformation. 

In Episode #22, Jack Lehman gave us some insights into The Dao of Domination, and told us a little bit about a wonderful conscious communication tool called Nonviolent Communication®, also known as NVC.

Today, Jack joins me again for part one of a more detailed conversation about NVC, and how we can use it to express our truth in ways that other people feel safe hearing.

Jack Lehman is a Clinical Mental Health Counselor licensed in the State of New Mexico, and a Certified Trainer with the Global Center for Nonviolent Communication®.  

Don't forget to tune in next week for Part 2.

Share your thoughts, reactions, feedback & ideas with me. I'd love to hear from you!

Please support Co-creating Peace:

• Subscribe to Co-creating Peace on your favorite podcast provider
• Send me your ideas for topics and guests or be a guest to talk about your communication or conflict resolution challenges and receive free communication coaching
• Share on social media & tell the world about Co-creating Peace! 
• Become a patron at www.patreon.com/CocreatingPeace

 Visit BridgesofPeace.com to learn more about Kathleen and her work.

Welcome to “You, Me, Us – The Art of Verbal Aikido™," Episode #42 of Co-creating Peace, a series about conscious communication and conflict transformation. 

Joining me today from Lyon, France, is Luke Archer, who will be sharing with us a peace education practice called Verbal Aikido™, which is based on principles and philosophy of the Japanese martial art Aikido. Verbal Aikido™, practitioners train to protect themselves, and to de-escalate conflictual exchanges peacefully. Luke Archer and his team have been developing and sharing this practice since 2009, focusing on empowering both adults and children to listen more deeply and to communicate more assertively."

Luke Archer is a writer and facilitator, specializing in communication and educational development. He is the developer of Verbal Aikido™ & co-director of the Newskool SAS training organization.

 Learn more about Luke and Verbal Aikido™ at: www.verbalaikido.org

Share your thoughts, reactions, feedback & ideas with me. I'd love to hear from you!

Please support Co-creating Peace:

• Subscribe to Co-creating Peace on your favorite podcast provider
• Send me your ideas for topics and guests or be a guest to talk about your communication or conflict resolution challenges and receive free communication coaching
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• Become a patron at www.patreon.com/CocreatingPeace

 Visit BridgesofPeace.com to learn more about Kathleen and her work.

Welcome to “Bringing Calm to the Storm”, Episode #41 of Co-creating Peace, a series about conscious communication and conflict transformation. 

I  recorded this podcast in front of a live online audience at the 2021 State of New Mexico Alternative Dispute Resolution Symposium on October 21 – National Conflict Resolution Day.

As we all know, conflict often involves high emotion. Not everyone has the ability to manage their emotions well, especially when their emotions are highly escalated. People sometimes completely lose awareness and control of their emotions and behavior. Other times people in conflict may use rage to intimidate and control others.

Yet, in order for productive communications to happen and conflict to be resolved, everyone involved must feel safe enough to be able to discuss their experiences and negotiate agreements. That means that someone needs to bring calm to the storm and help everyone de-escalate so that they can move forward together. But, how do we do that??

Joining me today is John Allen to provide us with some helpful understandings about de-escalating others, and some effective tools to help us do that. As time allows, John will also take questions posed by the audience.

John Allen is a retired Sergeant from the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office. He is a Lead Law Enforcement Instructor at the Central New Mexico Law Enforcement Academy, which is responsible for training various law enforcement entities. He is a Master Use of Force Instructor, Master Defensive Tactics Instructor and Lead Homicide Instructor with 23 years of law enforcement experience. During his career at BCSO, John was a supervisor for homicide, violent crimes, Special Weapons and Tactics, mobile crisis teams, and crisis intervention teams that deal with mental health. Conflict resolution and crisis negotiation are components of what he teaches in many of his classes.

Share your thoughts, reactions, feedback & ideas with me. I'd love to hear from you!

Please support Co-creating Peace:

• Subscribe to Co-creating Peace on your favorite podcast provider
• Send me your ideas for topics and guests or be a guest to talk about your communication or conflict resolution challenges and receive free communication coaching
• Share on social media & tell the world about Co-creating Peace! 
• Become a patron at www.patreon.com/CocreatingPeace

 Visit BridgesofPeace.com to learn more about Kathleen and her work.

Welcome to Part 2 of "Walking Through the Blueprint of We - A Way to Co-create Relationships" – Episode #40 of Co-creating Peace, a series about conscious communication and conflict transformation. 

In Episode #16 of this podcast, I interviewed Sheella Mierson and Rachel Eryn Kalish about “A Way to Co-create Relationships (The Blueprint of We Process).” They described the Blueprint of We and gave examples of where and how it is used. At the end of that interview, I wanted to know more, and was delighted to continue the series.

In Episode #33, "Walking Through the Blueprint of We, Part 1", Sheella walked through writing a Blueprint with Ron Person as he wrote his document. They discussed the first two components of a Blueprint of We. This time, Sheella and Ron will continue the walk-through of the remaining three components. 

In this time of transition, uncertainty, and adaptation, the Blueprint of We can be especially helpful as a tool to mindfully articulate, co-create and navigate professional and personal relationships for greatest long-term success.

Share your thoughts, reactions, feedback & ideas with me. I'd love to hear from you!

Please support Co-creating Peace:

• Subscribe to Co-creating Peace on your favorite podcast provider
• Send me your ideas for topics and guests or be a guest to talk about your communication or conflict resolution challenges and receive free communication coaching
• Share on social media & tell the world about Co-creating Peace! 
• Become a patron at www.patreon.com/CocreatingPeace

 Visit BridgesofPeace.com to learn more about Kathleen and her work.

Welcome to “What is Restorative Justice, Really?” – Episode #39 of Co-creating Peace, a series about conscious communication and conflict transformation. 

I am so pleased to have my friend and colleague, Tonya Covington join me to talk about a very important field of mediation – especially in today’s world. It is a powerful, yet underutilized form of mediation known as Restorative Justice.

Tonya Covington was appointed by the Mayor of Albuquerque to bring Restorative Justice to the City.  She is the immediate past President of the New Mexico Mediation Association. Tonya has been a trained mediator and teacher of mediation since 1988.  Tonya has expertise in Restorative Justice, Workplace, Family, Transformative, Cross-cultural, Postal (REDRESS), Divorce and Elder mediation.

Share your thoughts, reactions, feedback & ideas with me. I'd love to hear from you!

Please support Co-creating Peace:

• Subscribe to Co-creating Peace on your favorite podcast provider
• Send me your ideas for topics and guests or be a guest to talk about your communication or conflict resolution challenges and receive free communication coaching
• Share on social media & tell the world about Co-creating Peace! 
• Become a patron at www.patreon.com/CocreatingPeace

 Visit BridgesofPeace.com to learn more about Kathleen and her work.

Welcome to “Implementing Emotional Intelligence”, Episode #38 of Co-creating Peace, a series about conscious communication and conflict transformation. 

In last week’s episode, I talked about “Expressing Emotion Safely”. In this episode, I’ll discuss Emotional Intelligence, also known as EI or EQ, which I think is defined best by Daniel Goleman, author of the book titled “Emotional Intelligence”, who defines EI as the ability to recognize, understand and manage our own emotions and to recognize, understand and influence the emotions of others.

To best perceive and respond to the emotions that you and others experience, and the impacts of those emotions, developing and utilizing Emotional Intelligence is key, because when you develop your EQ, you are enhancing your ability to understand and manage your own emotions and how you act on those emotions (or not), and to recognize and respond constructively to the emotions of other people. 

Share your thoughts, reactions, feedback & ideas with me. I'd love to hear from you!

Please support Co-creating Peace:

• Subscribe to Co-creating Peace on your favorite podcast provider
• Send me your ideas for topics and guests or be a guest to talk about your communication or conflict resolution challenges and receive free communication coaching
• Share on social media & tell the world about Co-creating Peace! 
• Become a patron at www.patreon.com/CocreatingPeace

 Visit BridgesofPeace.com to learn more about Kathleen and her work.

Welcome to “Expressing Emotion Safely” – Episode #37 of Co-creating Peace, a series about conscious communication and conflict transformation. 

Expressing our emotions, especially when we feel those emotions strongly is something that is very difficult for many people to do, or to do successfully, and in ways that help build understanding. 

We all struggle from time to time with how to express our emotions. We often either react to our feelings without thought, causing others to get upset, or we avoid talking about them altogether in an effort to prevent high emotion and conflict, which – in the long run – can cause us to accumulate a lot of unpacked emotional baggage.  Today, we’ll look at some other options that might be more helpful to us, and to our interpersonal dynamics with others: practices we can use to help us to express our emotions in ways that others can feel safe hearing.

Share your thoughts, reactions, feedback & ideas with me. I'd love to hear from you!

Please support Co-creating Peace:

• Subscribe to Co-creating Peace on your favorite podcast provider
• Send me your ideas for topics and guests or be a guest to talk about your communication or conflict resolution challenges and receive free communication coaching
• Share on social media & tell the world about Co-creating Peace! 
• Become a patron at www.patreon.com/CocreatingPeace

 Visit BridgesofPeace.com to learn more about Kathleen and her work.

Welcome to “The Courage to Bridge the Divide” – Episode #36 of Co-creating Peace, a series about conscious communication and conflict transformation. 

In this episode, I share a letter from a listener seeking advice about feeling rejected by family members, and not knowing how to have a productive conversation about that. The advice I will share could be applied in any situation where one feels as though others are distancing from them, whether or not it is family members.

Today’s quote is by Winston Churchill. "Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak. Courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.”

One the many reasons that I love this quote is because I have so often observed that one root cause of assumptions, misunderstandings and conflict is people being afraid to say what’s on their mind – whether it’s an opinion, their feelings, or a question they need the answer to. 

Most often, it seems, that fear comes from either not knowing how to approach the conversation, or the fear that the conversation, once initiated, will not go well and lead to conflict. Sometimes it’s because they fear the answer itself. As Churchill says, It takes courage. 

What can help us to have that courage is to have a well-thought-out approach to initiating and having the conversation. In my response to this listener’s letter, I’ll offer some ideas on how to mindfully approach the conversation she may need to have.

Share your thoughts, reactions, feedback & ideas with me. I'd love to hear from you!

Please support Co-creating Peace:

• Subscribe to Co-creating Peace on your favorite podcast provider
• Send me your ideas for topics and guests or be a guest to talk about your communication or conflict resolution challenges and receive free communication coaching
• Share on social media & tell the world about Co-creating Peace! 
• Become a patron at www.patreon.com/CocreatingPeace

 Visit BridgesofPeace.com to learn more about Kathleen and her work.