The melodrama of conflict

One of my big projects at the moment is working on a book called the Melodrama of Conflict.  My theory is that people who are not managing conflict well tend to tell their story of conflict in the genre of melodrama (the proper classical genre, not the way we use the term colloquially).

Professor Nadja Alexander and I developed the REAL Conflict Coaching System to support people in conflict to move away from dysfunctional melodramatic conflict narratives.  We want our clients to move from being a passive victim to being the active hero of their future conflict story.  It might sound weird, but I think a better genre for a constructive conflict narrative is tragedy.

To find out more, listen to my talk to the International Coaching Federation in the USA on coaching people through the melodrama of conflict (this is a recording of the tele-seminar, so there’s a bit of chit chat at the start as people logged into the call): http://www.freeconference.com/RecordingDownload.aspx?R=13352997&C=734&E=193325

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About Dr Samantha Hardy

Associate Professor Samantha Hardy PhD has been mediating and conflict coaching since 1997. She practices primarily in the workplace context, and in the university sector. Sam is a Nationally Accredited Mediator under the Australian Standards and a Certified Transformative Mediator by the US Institute of Conflict Transformation. She is an experienced conflict coach and the co-founder of the REAL Conflict Coaching System. Sam has a particular interest in education and has been recognized as a leader in this field, including receiving a University Teaching Excellence Award, a National Carrick Citation for an Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning and a Fellow of the Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australia. She is an adjunct and teaches at various universities including James Cook University, the University of New South Wales, the University of Tasmania, the Singapore International Dispute Resolution Academy, and is an Affiliate Scholar at the Center for the Study of Narrative and Conflict Resolution within the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University. Sam has published widely in conflict resolution, including her books Dispute Resolution in Australia, 3rd Ed. (2014) co-authored with David Spencer, Mediation for Lawyers (2010) co-authored with Olivia Rundle, and Sex, Gender, Sexuality and the Law: Social and legal issues facing individuals, couples and families (2016) co-authored with Olivia Rundle and Damien Riggs.

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