We help people resolve existing conflicts through mediation and equip people with communications skills that enable them to prevent conflict and defuse discord if it occurs.

Our Approach
Diversity of viewpoints among people and groups, which is a natural dimension of human interactions, often leads to conflict. Resolving conflict and working together to accomplish common goals is behavior that can be learned.

A key instructional tool in our approach is the “Ladder of Assumptions,” a visual representation that shows us how we instantly make unfounded assumptions that can lead to conflict.

Ladder of Assumptions

Setting. In any given moment in our waking lives the feet of our ladder are set in a particular life situation.

Rung #1: Facts. The facts we discern through our senses are the portion of a given setting that we are able to take in.

Rung #2: Interpretations. The interpretations of the facts we perceive in a given setting can be defined as our own opinions of those facts.

Rung #3: Motives. The motives we attribute to another person, based on our perceptions of the person’s behavior in a given setting, are typically based on our own experiences in similar situations.

Rung #4: Generalizations. The stereotypes, prejudices, and preconceptions with which we label another person in a given setting amount to ascribing certain characteristics to the person because of his or her perceived membership in a particular group.

Actions. The actions we take toward another person in a given setting result from the reflexive, often “knee-jerk” mental process of racing up our ladder.