Fine-tune your skills in helping conflicted parents and children talk in new ways that lowers conflict, improves communication and promotes settlement. Two experienced clinicians will use clinical demonstrations to illustrate how introducing civility to discourse leads to more effective outcomes in our work with challenging families.

Through demonstration, commentary and audience participation, the presenters will explain and illustrate key communication principles and practical skills that have emerged from family therapy and mediation. We will focus on three areas: how to engage (build a therapeutic alliance, get around resistance), how to intervene (core family therapy techniques), and how to coach our clients to improve their problem-solving methods (empathic reflections, positive requests, yes/and communication). If you are a mental health professional, attorney or judge, who conducts settlement discussions, mediation or co-parent counseling, this workshop is for you!

Learning Objectives:

Participants will learn:

  1. Specific techniques for engaging with reluctant clients.
  2. How to reframe and challenge clients productively.
  3. How to coach clients to use more civil and productive communication.