Conflict Coaching

REGISTRATION IS CLOSED. THIS IS AN IN-PERSON WORKSHOP AND MASKS WILL BE REQUIRED! LOCATION INFORMATION WILL BE PROVIDED AFTER REGISTRATION. (General location is West Philadelphia, near Drexel.)

Conflict coaching is a conflict assessment and planning process involving a neutral “coach” and a person experiencing conflict. The goals are to:  (1) examine the client’s views about conflict and how they deal with it; (2) prepare mentally and emotionally to approach the other person involved in the conflict; and (3) develop a plan for how to address the conflict situation and achieve the optimal outcome.

This workshop will include lecture, small group exercises, and role-play activities. Topics will include: What is conflict coaching, who is the conflict coach, unpacking conflict, perspective taking, action planning, and more. Some conflict resolution experience (e.g., as a mediator) is helpful but not required. 

Trainer: Clymer Bardsley has 20 years of experience as a mediator. He has mediated employment discrimination cases for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, other private workplace disputes and cases between families and school districts in special education matters.  He has also mediated family disputes for the Philadelphia Family Court. Clymer has worked with the Department of Homeland Security, Social Security Administration, the Philadelphia Police Department, and Middle States Association as the founder and consultant of The Bardsley Group, a conflict management consultancy dedicated to helping its clients increase productivity and decrease conflict in the workplace. Clymer is also on the faculty of Columbia University Teachers College, where he teaches negotiation and mediation at the graduate level. He is the past editor of Resolution, the Pennsylvania Bar Association's ADR Newsletter. Clymer is motivated by a desire to help people find common ground, understanding, and resolution in a safe and empowering process.