Transforming Conflict Through Embodied Leadership and Empathy-In-Action

As our global society faces many threats to collective well-being and thriving, transforming the intensive energy of conflict into a process of healing and growth offers rich options by which to find connection and resolution through uncertain and difficult times. In this session, participants will learn fundamental frameworks for applying trauma-informed/healing-centered approaches to social-identity based conflicts that often arise in professional, educational, and institutional spaces. Using case stories from a variety of contexts, this session will highlight ways in which conflict aggravates defense responses in our biology and how to use embodied awareness to facilitate respect, de-escalation and movement in high conflict situations that threaten safety and belonging. Going beyond traditional mediator displays of reframing and perspective switching, this experiential session offers interdisciplinary concrete engagement techniques for empathy-in-action. Participants will have an opportunity to reflect with one another on their inner and outer experience of conflict mediation and learn accessible skills for conflict engagement that they can immediately apply to their professional and personal spaces.