From Conflict to Community: Transforming Conflicts Without Authorities - Paperback

by Gwendolyn Olton (Author)

Conflict is everywhere: our living rooms, our streets, our community organizations, and every corner of the internet. But few of us have the training to successfully intervene or resolve these conflicts. In these pages, experienced peacemaker Gwendolyn Olton shows you how to use your existing skills and intuition to transform a wide variety of conflicts from insurmountable impasses to working relationships where everyone's needs are met. The result is a practical, kind, realistic guidebook for anyone who's found themselves in a conflict (their own or someone else's) and wondered, "How did we get here and what can I do to make it better!?"The book is broken up into three sections: learn the basics of conflicts, help others work out their conflicts, and finally, resolve and heal the conflicts in your own life. Filled with real life examples and thought-provoking scenarios, Olton offers a variety of conflict analysis and conversation tools that you can use to navigate the most challenging interpersonal dynamics, and to better understand yourself and others along the way--all without calling HR or the cops.

Author Biography

Gwen brings her unique background in mental health nursing and conflict transformation to her work as the Interim Director of the MK Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence in Rochester, NY. She is a lifelong learner of communication models and group processes that help transform conflicts to leverage for more systemic and liberatory change. She is an Appreciative Inquiry facilitator, member of the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers, restorative process facilitator, transformative mediator, and an Apprentice Provider with the Nonviolent Global Liberation Community. Gwen studied philosophy (as well as geological sciences) at the University of Rochester, nursing at St. John Fisher College, and obtained a master's in peace and conflict resolution from Arcadia University.