In this special episode, Dr. Emily Taylor is joined by producer Mitchell Tousley to share tips for handling five common conflicts that happen around the holidays. Together, they discuss practical strategies for managing family expectations, balancing time between multiple families, navigating gift-giving differences, recognizing holiday labor, and respecting diverse beliefs and traditions.

Whether you’re struggling to split time between relatives, feeling overwhelmed by holiday preparations, or facing generational differences in how you celebrate, Dr. Taylor offers actionable tips to help you approach the holidays with confidence, compassion, and a little less stress.

In this episode you’ll learn how to:

- Align your holiday time to your highest priorities

- Identify the time vs. money differential in gift-giving conflict

- Prioritize and delegate holiday labor

- Maintain boundaries around work and family commitments during the holidays

Let us know how these strategies work in your own life! Email Dr. Emily at [email protected] or connect with her on social media: @conflictcoachwithdremily

CHAPTERS

00:00 – Introduction: Setting the Stage for Holiday Conflict

00:26 – Balancing Time Between In-Laws

04:14 – Navigating Gift-Giving Expectations

10:49 – Recognizing and Sharing Holiday Labor

17:26 – Respecting Differences in Belief and Tradition

23:24 – Managing Work and Family Commitments

26:50 – Final Thoughts and Holiday Wishes

Watch video of this episode on the Conflict Coach YouTube Channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@ConflictCoachPodcast

Dr. Emily Taylor coaches Sarah, who is feeling increasingly frustrated with the inconsistency of her long-time friend Julie. We all have cherished friendships that we’d like to last forever, but knowing when it’s time to let one go is an important part of maintaining healthy boundaries.

In this episode, Dr. Emily helps Sarah understand the signs of growing out of a friendship and the opportunity to establish several layers of friendships that can receive different levels of her time and attention. Together, they develop a strategy to realign Sarah’s friendship with Julie to better match her current stage of life.

In this episode you’ll learn how to:

- Recognize when a friendship has become one-sided

- Triage your friendships to different levels of intimacy

- Appropriately respond when a boundary is crossed

Let us know how these strategies work in your own life! Email Dr. Emily at [email protected] or connect with her on social media: @conflictcoachwithdremily

CHAPTERS

00:00 Introduction to Conflict Coach

00:53 Meet Sarah: Frustration with a Close Friend

06:44 Signs You’re Growing Out of a Friendship

14:53 Triaging Friendships

16:28 Sarah’s Plan for Setting Boundaries

24:19 Conclusion and Key Takeaways

Dr. Emily Taylor coaches Laura, who is having conflict with a new coworker and wonders if she’s the cause of the tension. If you're someone who likes to be liked - and most of us are! - it's easy to slip into blaming yourself for conflicts in your life. In this coaching session, Dr. Emily helps Laura to unpack why she sees herself as the cause of the tension and how that limits the options Laura has for resolving the conflict with her coworker. Together they explore Laura’s needs in the conflict and role-play to uncover what the coworker’s needs might be. Then they brainstorm ways Laura could engage with her coworker to resolve their friction.

In this episode you’ll learn how to:

- Name your needs in a conflict

- Uncover your conflict partner’s needs through role-play

- Effectively brainstorm your options

- Resolve conflict through negotiation, rather than competition

Dr. Emily recommends this resource from the Nonviolent Communication (NVC) Academy to help you name your needs and feelings: https://nvcacademy.com/media/NVCA/learning-tools/NVCA-feelings-needs.pdf

Let us know how these strategies work in your own life! Email Dr. Emily at [email protected] or connect with her on social media: @conflictcoachwithdremily

CHAPTERS

00:00 Introduction to Conflict Coach

00:53 Meet Laura and Her Workplace Conflict

03:17 Understanding the Root of the Conflict

08:16 Role-Playing to Gain Perspective

16:50 Brainstorming Solutions

25:33 Key Takeaways and Conclusion

Dr. Emily Taylor coaches Kristy, who is struggling to advocate for herself at work and now faces discipline that could result in her firing. The longer you wait to acknowledge your own needs in a conflict, the harder it becomes. Kristy has spent more than a decade keeping her vision loss a secret at work, even though she has a legal right to receive assistance. Now that her eyesight is affecting her ability to do her job, Kristy feels like her needs are a burden to others, but also that she’s being treated unfairly by her boss. Dr. Emily helps Kristy brainstorm ways to resolve the conflict while confidently addressing her own needs.

In this episode you’ll learn how to:

- Avoid premature problem-solving

- Feel confident identifying and expressing your needs

- Find a mentor to guide you in the conflict

Let us know how these strategies work in your own life! Email Dr. Emily at [email protected] or connect with her on social media: @conflictcoachwithdremily

CHAPTERS

00:00 Introduction to The Conflict Coach

01:11 Trouble at Work

02:49 Worsening Eyesight and Accommodations

06:26 Avoiding Premature Problem-Solving

08:30 Identifying Needs

12:08 Honoring Needs

15:15 Brainstorming Options

21:55 Conclusion and Takeaways

Dr. Emily Taylor coaches Stacie, who recently lost her sister to suicide and is in conflict with her late sister’s husband. Grief can heighten the tension in relationships and sometimes makes it difficult to identify what our own needs are in conflict. Dr. Emily helps Stacie sift through her hurt and anger to pinpoint her core need in the conflict. In the process, Stacie discovers new options to pursue in her relationship with her sister’s family and ends the session feeling hopeful.

In this episode you’ll learn how to:

- Identify your “why” in a conflict.

- Use the 4 steps of nonviolent communication.

- Discover paths forward through role-playing.

Let us know how these strategies work in your own life! Email Dr. Emily at [email protected] or connect with her on social media: @conflictcoachwithdremily

If you or someone you know is in crisis, the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is available 24/7 for free, confidential support. Call or text 988.

CHAPTERS

00:00 Introduction to The Conflict Coach

01:28 Sister’s Suicide

02:20 Prior Conflict with Sister’s Family

05:46 Getting to the Core Need

12:32 Roleplaying Nonviolent Communication

19:05 Roleplay Recap

22:04 Conclusion and Takeaway

Tired of feeling overwhelmed by conflict in your life? Learn the skills to confidently handle any conflict, as certified mediator Dr. Emily Taylor coaches real people through real conflicts in their lives. From family struggles to workplace disputes, neighborhood conflicts to in-law disagreements, each episode of Conflict Coach with Dr. Emily Taylor gives you concrete strategies to find the root of a conflict, identify solutions and create positive change.

Dr. Emily Taylor’s passion for helping others gain the confidence to navigate conflict comes from her personal experience (she’s a married mom of five!) and her professional life (PhD in psychology, certified conflict mediator, author of the books “Conflict Fluent” and “Raising Mediators.”)

Conflicts are inevitable, but they don’t have to ruin your life. Let Dr. Emily Taylor be your guide to building the life you want.

Conflict Coach with Dr. Emily Taylor is a BYUradio podcast. New episodes every other Tuesday starting February 4. Connect with Dr. Emily on social media @conflictcoachwithdremily.

Dr. Emily Taylor shares updates on several people she coached in Season One of the show. Has Jeff (Episode 9) found better work-life balance? Did Morgan (Episode 8) reconcile with her estranged sister? What happened with Sara’s coworker conflict in Episode 10? How did Erika (Episode 1) end up resolving things with her husband? Did Tyler (Episode 5) find a way to connect with his sister so they could share household duties more equally?

In this final episode of the season, Dr. Emily also goes behind the scenes of conflict coaching with her producer Julie Rose to answer questions like:

-Why doesn’t she tell people how to solve their conflicts?

-What does she really mean when she asks “What is your need?”

-How could texting sometimes be better than face-to-face communication in a conflict?

-Why is role-playing such a common part of a coaching session?

CHAPTERS

00:00 Introduction and Season Recap

00:51 Update on Jeff’s Journey

01:36 Morgan's Update with Her Estranged Sister

04:03 Coaching Insights: The Role of a Coach

06:11 Tyler's Update: Building Sibling Relationships

10:32 Erika's Update: Understanding Underlying Needs

16:55 The Power of Mirroring in Conflict Resolution

19:32 Dr. Emily’s Conflict Achilles Heel

21:08 Role Playing and Sara’s Update

27:08 Reflections and Looking Ahead

Dr. Emily Taylor coaches Tina whose 11-year-old son is being harassed by another boy at school. Tina admits she usually tries to avoid confronting issues directly, but felt an important boundary was crossed and she needed to make sure the school was addressing the problem. Now Tina’s worried how the fallout from the conflict will affect her son at school and her own social interactions with the other boy’s parents. Dr. Taylor offers guidance on enforcing healthy boundaries and helps Tina role-play to prepare for an awkward social interaction.

In this episode you’ll learn how to:

-Establish and maintain healthy boundaries.

-Process your emotions by role-playing before a tense encounter.

-Prioritize the relationships that are most important to you in a conflict.

Let us know how these strategies work in your own life! Email Dr. Emily at [email protected] or connect with her on social media: @conflictcoachwithdremily

CHAPTERS

00:00 Introduction to the Conflict Coach

00:48 Meet Tina and Her Conflict

06:33 Understanding Boundaries in Conflict

11:57 Role-Playing the Confrontation

17:46 Reflecting on the Parent-Child Relationship

21:35 Conclusion and Key Takeaways

Dr. Emily Taylor coaches Claire, who is in a stalemate with her young adult daughter, who still lives at home and is not progressing toward independence. The daughter is 23 and has Autism Spectrum Disorder and ADHD. Claire tries to be compassionate, but suspects her daughter is capable of more.  A lot of conflicts involve uncertainty around what to realistically demand of the other person - maybe it's an elderly parent who's been diagnosed with Alzheimer's or a child custody battle with a former spouse or an adult child leaving the family's shared faith. Dr. Emily helps Claire identify ways to get her questions answered so she can start working toward a resolution.

In this episode you’ll learn how to:

- Create a map of your conflict to better identify possible resolutions.

- Identify an unanswered question at the root of your conflict.

- Know when to seek expert advice on your specific conflict.

Let us know how these strategies work in your own life! Email Dr. Emily at [email protected] or connect with her on social media: @conflictcoachwithdremily

CHAPTERS

00:00 Introduction

00:48 Stalemate Between Claire and Her Daughter

01:13 Daughter’s Background and Challenges: ASD, ADHD, ODD

03:56 Exploring Claire's Frustrations

07:31 Mapping the Conflict

09:47 Imagining a Positive Scenario

14:52 Seeking Resources and Support

21:33 Conclusion and Takeaways

Dr. Emily Taylor coaches Sara - a young professional in her 30s - who is being treated unkindly by a coworker. Peer relationships often experience the most conflict because there are so many opportunities for friction. Sara’s coworker is also a friend who helped her get the job and now seems to be looking for any reason to disagree and dismiss Sara’s opinions. Dr. Emily coaches Sara through a role-playing exercise to help her gain insight into her coworker’s motivations. Together they explore ways that Sara might build warmth and camaraderie in the relationship, even if her coworker is unwilling to directly address the conflict.

In this episode you’ll learn how to:

-Identify the“fundamental attribution error” in your judgment of the other person’s behavior.

 -Use the TRIP acronym to identify what your conflict is really about.

-Recognize when direct confrontation is not the best approach in conflict.

Let us know how these strategies work in your own life! Email Dr. Emily at [email protected] or connect with her on social media: @conflictcoachwithdremily

CHAPTERS

00:00 Introduction

00:48 Meet Sara and Her Conflict

03:38 Why the Conflict is Hurtful to Sara

09:52 Role-Playing to Understand Her Coworker’s Perspective

13:52 Beware of the “Fundamental Attribution Error”

18:00 The TRIP Acronym

24:17 Sara Has a Surprising Realization

25:12 Key Takeaways and Conclusion