Mediate Michigan

Somewhere along life’s trajectory—say, toddlerhood?—the fields of interpersonal conflict begin to accumulate fertilizer. Sure, differences of opinion signify healthy individuality. But chances are everyone has experienced an argument as tenacious and devastating as kudzu in a corn field. A good part of the problem is that we generally are not taught how to navigate conflict very well, if at all.

“Many of us didn’t experience healthy disagreement resolution in our younger years,” observes Roz Magidson, executive director for the Dispute Resolution Center DRC, a nonprofit agency serving Orange, Putnam, Sullivan, and Ulster Counties. “We may have been from a strict, obey-your-parents background and were taught not to speak as a child. As a woman, we may have been taught we cannot challenge men.”

via Chronogram Magazine – November 01, 2010 – Going for the Win-Win.