Honoring all the voices in a conflict is a basic tenet of conflict resolution practice.  But,  do we honor conflict itself?  A usual response to conflict is avoidance. We want to fix the conflict as soon as possible because we are sure that there is something wrong if we are in conflict. What if there is nothing wrong with conflict?

What if practitioners in all types of conflict resolution - from family law to education to international mediation - honored conflict? What if we saw each conflict as an opportunity to transform, to grow, to create a whole that is greater than the pieces?

What if honoring conflict is the missing piece of true resolution, of creating peace as synergy?  If "what we resist persists", is resisting and fixing conflict actually allowing it to persist and even flourish? What would be provided if we all began embracing and honoring conflict?

And, if we do honor conflict, what does that mean? What is honoring? How do we honor the conflict as well as the voices within the conflict? What is possible if we quit resisting the conflict and allow it to come to the table, to be honored as an opportunity?

We are engaged in a cutting edge conversation that will shift the paradigm about conflict and provide us with very clear tools for working with clients and our own conflicts.  We are exploring ways to alter the way we frame the conversations that occur about and within conflict, honoring conflict as an opportunity, a learning experience, a gift.