As much as we would all prefer to live our lives in peace and harmony, everyone will butt heads with someone else at some point in their lives.
“It is really unavoidable,” Silvia BĂ©gin says.
She should know. She’s the manager of education and training at Edmonton’s Mediation and Restorative Justice Centre. The organization has been helping the general public to smooth out the rough areas of interpersonal relationships since 2000.
“Conflict is inevitable but suffering is optional. It’s an exaggeration simply from the perspective that … conflict is not always negative. The more skills we have to be able to deal with conflict and resolve it in an amicable way, the less all parties have to suffer.”
The organization has been hosting these workshops as a way of bridging the gap so that everyone and acquire those skills. Not only has BĂ©gin herself led these workshops but she has also taken them as a participant.
It’s important for even those with a strong base in conflict resolution skill to keep up their practice, she says. The workshops also raise awareness of conflict and different techniques for people to employ to work their ways through these struggles and still come out with positive outcomes for both sides.
“We expect to be able to give people some insight into what conflict is all about and how they play a role. Fundamentally, we like to give people some concrete skills to deal with conflict efficiently, to communicate effectively through conflict, and to have some skills to be able to resolve and prevent conflict.”
The sessions include opportunities for practice to provide a balance between the theoretical and real life situations.
The workshop has run previously in St. Albert and BĂ©gin is pleased with the results.
“They have gone well. We actually had full groups,” she said. One of the groups that attended was from St. Albert Victim Services. “They really, really enjoyed it. The feedback that we have received from participants has been very, very positive.”
Preview
Managing Interpersonal Conflict Workshop Series<br />Put on by the Mediation and Restorative Justice Centre of Edmonton<br /><br />Three consecutive Saturdays from April 27 to May 11<br />9 a.m. to noon<br /><br />Topics include Communicating Through Conflict, Style Matters, and Conflict Communication Skills Practice<br /><br />The cost is $20 + processing fee per workshop, or $50 for all three.<br />Register online at www.mrjc.ca or call 780-423-0896.
