Jones, T. S., & Brinkert, R. (2008). Conflict coaching: Conflict management strategies and skills for the individual. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

“Conflict Coaching: Adding a Critical Forum to Help Fix the Fuss”

Tricia S. Jones, Prof. Temple University

Where It Began – the Micro

Communication Scholar; Focus on Interaction Analysis and Stochastic Modeling in Divorce and Child-Custody Mediation (1985, 1989)

• Nascent ADR Field (Pound Conference 1977; burgeoning court mediation programs; fueled by need for responsive legal systems)
• State Justice Institute Grant (1996); Under-Utilization of Mediation; Concerns About Mediation Efficacy
• Building Conflict Management Systems and Processes to Empower Parties
• WHAT WAS MISSING? A Theory-Informed One-on-One Third Party ADR Process

CONFLICT COACHING: PURPOSE, PROCESS, SYSTEMS APPLICATIONS

PURPOSE – CONFLICT ANALYSIS FOR STRATEGIC ACTION AND EMPOWERMENT

PROCESS – Theory Into Practice; CCM MODEL (Jones & Brinkert, 2008)

• Narrative Theory; Narrative Mediation

• Drivers of Conflict; Identity, Emotion and Power

• Visioning; Construction of Future Narrative

• Skills Development for Implementation

SYSTEMS CONTEXTS AND APPLICATION – Developing CC for Systems Fit and Support

Conflict Coaching Applications – The Macro Workplace

• Federal Sector
• ADRA 1996, mandated
• Conflict Coaching included as Third Party Process under MD-110 and ADRA Inclusion in most Fed Agencies
• Increasingly Used as Pre-Mediation Process
• International Organizations
• United Nations, Secretariat and UNHCR
• World Bank, in Mediation Program Services
• Private Sector Ombuds & ADR, HR

Community Mediation

New York, NYUCS/NYSDRA (similar statewide systems in Maryland (MACRO), Heartland Mediation Association, Georgia, etc.
62 County Community Mediation System; over 1,000 conflict coaches since 2013; infused in all areas of service (family, court, youth-based)

Special Education

CA SELPAs, CADRE (OSERs National TA Organization)
Special education conflict coaching throughout CA and CADRE national pilot project 2025-2027

Challenges/Opportunities and Catalysts
Challenges and Opportunities

• Mediation-centric field (then more than now)
• Maintaining frame of Conflict Coaching as ADR process rather than counseling/ “coaching”
• Getting caught in “only one best model” dynamic
• Understand and respect limits of the intervention

Catalysts, Tidbits and Inspirations

• Meet Their Need (understand the system; honor the need)
• Follow the Heat (engage the emergent energy)
• Find and Nurture Champions of Innovation (Kings County – Brooklyn Criminal Courts)
• Dedicate Yourself to Theory to Practice
• Leverage Fertile Fields (don’t expend energy and resources in the desert)
• Build Partnerships Outside the “Tower”; the “academy” may not be the best incubator
• If “They” Build It “They” Will Come (and Learn to Let Go)