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

Dr. Emily Taylor helps Jeff address the challenge of balancing his high-conflict job with his personal life. Jobs that involve constant conflict navigation carry a unique risk: how you deal with disagreements at work can seep into how you handle things with your spouse or kids. In this coaching session, Dr. Emily coaches Jeff to identify his needs for achieving a balanced life and behaviors to help him establish and maintain better boundaries between work and home. Dr. Emily shares her own struggle to separate the conflict-rich nature of her own career from her personal interactions.

In this episode you’ll learn how to:

-  Look for boundaries you can put in place to help separate your work and home life.

 - Create scaffolding around yourself to help you maintain the boundaries you're creating.

 - Consider not only what you can cut out of your life, but also what you might want to add that will recalibrate the structure and meaning of what you're already doing.

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 Jeff: The Insurance Broker

01:21 Jeff's Conflict with Insurance Companies

04:42 The Personal Impact of Professional Conflict

08:17 Establishing Boundaries Between Work and Home

10:53 Identifying Personal Needs for Balance

16:25 Strategies for Maintaining Work-Life Balance

23:22 Conclusion and Key Takeaways

25:47 Outro and Next Episode Preview

Dr. Emily Taylor helps Morgan sort through the pain of being cut off by her sister and options for moving forward. Family estrangement is incredibly painful and surprisingly common. An estimated one-quarter of all adults in the US are estranged from a close family member. But reconciliation can - and often does - happen. In this coaching session, Dr. Emily offers Morgan a chance to talk through her understanding of why the estrangement has happened and the meaning she’s attached to it. Together they consider what Morgan’s needs are in the relationship with her sister and how she might re-establish contact when her sister refuses to take her calls.

In this episode you’ll learn how to:

- Begin the process of reconciliation with an estranged family member.

- Recognize when you’re making assumptions about what another person’s actions mean.

- Identify the interest that’s driving your position in a conflict.

- Approach relational repair in smaller, more effective steps.

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

Dr. Karl Pillemer blog post on reconciling after family estrangement: https://www.karlpillemer.com/psychology-today-on-fault-lines-and-family-estrangement/

You might also like this recent episode of Top of Mind with Julie Rose:

“The Surprising Truth About Reconciliation After Estrangement” https://www.byuradio.org/top-of-mind-the-surprising-truth-about-reconciliation-after-estrangement

CHAPTERS

00:00 Introduction to The Conflict Coach

00:49 Meet Morgan: Family Text Conflict

03:53 Morgan's Perspective and Struggles

08:18 Exploring Solutions and Reconciliation

12:44 Dr. Emily's Insights on Family Estrangement

16:35 Morgan's Path to Repairing Relationships

26:48 Final Thoughts and Skills Recap

Dr. Emily Taylor helps Ann understand why efforts to smooth things over with a sister-in-law aren’t working. There are different ways to go about resolving a conflict and we each have our preferred approach: compete; accommodate; compromise; or collaborate. If you’re stuck in a repetitive conflict, that may be a sign your typical approach isn’t the best fit for the situation. In this coaching session, Dr. Emily helps Ann identify the reasons why a collaborative resolution is not possible in a 20-year conflict she’s had with her sister-in-law. Together they consider how Ann might adjust her expectations for the relationship to protect herself from further harm.

In this episode, you will learn how to:

· Address your fundamental need to feel safe in a conflicted relationship.

· Identify your preferred approach to resolving conflicts and when to adjust course.

· Recognize the “schemas” or mental constructs driving your expectations in relationships

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

00:00 Introduction to the Conflict Coach

00:49 Meet Ann and Her Conflict

01:20 Ann's Strained Relationship with Her Sister-in-Law

04:39 The Impact of Passive Aggression

08:39 Exploring Ann's Approach to Conflict

11:32 Reassessing Relationships and Expectations

15:37 Finding Peace Within the Conflict

27:14 Key Takeaways and Skills

29:29 Conclusion and Next Episode Preview

Dr. Emily Taylor helps a mid-career professional to consider the root of a work conflict. When we’re filled with regret about something we’ve done or said in the past, it can be difficult to see a path forward in conflict. Finding compassion for ourselves can help us see missteps as learning opportunities to do better in the future. In this coaching session, Dr. Emily helps Rachel identify why she feels such a deep sense of self-betrayal over a big decision she made to change careers. Together they consider how addressing her internal conflict may help Rachel resolve problems she’s having with her new boss.

In this episode, you will learn how to:

- Listen to your gut for insight into what matters most to you.

- Look back on your past actions with compassion.

- Reframe mistakes or failures as opportunities to do things differently in the future.

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

00:00 Introduction to The Conflict Coach

00:49 Meet Rachel: Career Change Struggles

04:43 Rachel's Internal Conflict

12:56 Self-Compassion and Reframing

24:18 Conclusion and Key Takeaways

Dr. Emily Taylor helps with a conflict over shared space. We all fill different roles in our families – mother, father, sister, brother - but sometimes when we fall back into those roles, we can end up perpetuating patterns that don’t really serve us in conflict. In this coaching session, Dr. Emily helps Tyler identify the roles that are fueling a current conflict around responsibilities for maintaining shared living space. Together they discover that the problem Tyler has been focused on is actually a symptom of something else he can work on to create a lasting solution.

In this episode, you will learn how to:

- Proactively address friction in situations where conflict is inevitable.

- Identify the patterns and roles driving your response to a conflict.

- Recognize when to focus on the relationship, rather than the conflict itself.

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

00:00 Introduction to The Conflict Coach

00:48 Meet Tyler and His Conflict

01:15 Understanding the Shared Space Issues

04:56 Tyler's Family Dynamics

11:11 Exploring Solutions and Communication

14:58 Reflecting on Sibling Relationships

25:18 Conclusion and Key Takeaways

Dr. Emily Taylor helps a manager prepare to meet with an angry employee. When you feel under attack in a tense meeting, it’s natural to react in ways that make the situation worse. Try practicing your approach to the meeting ahead of time. In this coaching session, Dr. Emily does a series of role-playing exercises to help Elizabeth prepare a script for her next meeting with an employee who has expressed frustration with Elizabeth’s management style.

In this episode, you will learn how to:

-Rehearse for a tough conversation in a conflict.

- Know when to speak and when to listen.

- Notice cues in a conflict that signal the other person’s needs.

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

00:00 Introduction to The Conflict Coach

00:49 Meet Elizabeth: The Conflict at Work

01:16 Elizabeth's Perspective on the Conflict

06:19 Dr. Taylor's Insights on Conflict Resolution

11:23 Role-Playing the Resolution

31:16 Final Thoughts and Key Takeaways