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Conflict Resolution Workshop

  • Learn tools for resolving everyday conflicts
  • Avoid the added pain of expressing angry words that go beyond the issue at hand and further wound others and ourselves.
  • Practice a method for expressing our heartfelt needs and wants, find common ground, and move forward from seemingly incompatible points of view.

Details

  • Date: Canceled for Fall 2018 ;
  • Deadline to sign-up: October 1, 2018
  • Cost: $50: This fee includes coffee/tea & snacks throughout the weekend, a light dinner Friday night, lunch and dinner on Saturday, and a small donation to UUCF for use of the building.
  • Attendance: Limited to 20 adults

Schedule

  • Friday, 6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
  • Saturday, 9:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.
  • Sunday, 2:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.

Registration: Two-step Process

Note: If the participant list below is nearing the maximum capacity of 20, please contact Emma Lou Comstock () before paying to confirm that you have a space tentatively reserved before paying.
Step 1 (of 2): Please go to Conflict Resolution Registration to complete the application form.
Step 2 (of 2): Please go to frederickuu.org/give to pay:

  1. Click on the button that says "To donate click here."
  2. Enter $50--or the increment of $50, depending on the number of people for whom you are making a reservation--in the line labeled "Adult Spiritual Enrichment:"
  3. In the blank to the right of where you entered in the amount of money, type �Conflict Resolution."
  4. Change "Donation Frequency" to "One Time"
  5. Click "Continue" .

At the end of the process, you should receive an email from our automated payment system with the subject �Thank You For Your Online Donation.� To fully reserve your spot, please forward that email receipt (or photo or screen shot of your payment confirmation) to Emma Lou Comstock (). (Please do not send the web address of your receipt. As a �third-party� we will be unable to open that link.) If you are paying for more than one person, please include the first and last name of everyone for whom you are registering. You will then receive a reply back from Emma Lou confirming your spot. (The reason for this extra step is the delay in payments populating through our system, and even then the records are only accessible by our Treasurer and Bookkeeper. Thank you for helping us keep the paperwork straight.)

Facilitators

  • Emma Lou Comstock, a member of the UU Congregation of Frederick and one of the founding members of the Maryland Alternatives to Violence movement
  • Mary Fletcher, a member of the UU Congregation of Frederick and trained facilitator through Alternatives to Violence.
  • Delores Harmon, trained facilitator in the AVP movement
  • Ahmad Nowrouzi, trained facilitator in the AVP movement

Participants (limited to 20)


Background

The twentieth-century Trappist monk Thomas Merton said, �The greatest need of our time is to clean out the enormous mass of mental and emotion rubbish that clutters our minds.� Some of this clutter includes closely guarded assumptions about our innate rights, duties, and status in the world. Outrage is a not uncommon result when these assumptions come up against opposition. We all have experienced these situations, and their aftermath in a family situation is oftentimes debilitating conflict. From unresolved conflict comes more guilt and pain and tarnished or ruptured relationships. Conflict is a natural part of family life, because we all come from slightly or very different backgrounds, but there is no need for conflict to result in serious damage to our cherished relationships.

Alternatives to Violence was developed by the Quakers as a way to teach prison inmates an alternative to angry confrontation as a means to solve problems in the prison environment. The method also works in the world outside prison. In the almost half century since the Alternatives to Violence movement was founded, prison officials, our criminal justice system, and psychologists have commended the methods taught by the program, as among the most helpful and practical means to reduce violence not only in prison but also out in the world.

Contacts for More Information

  • Emma Lou Comstock:
  • Mary Fletcher:


(The short link to this page is frederickuu.org/ConflictResolution.)