“Bringing Calm to the Storm” – Episode #41 of Co-creating Peace

A podcast series about conscious communication and conflict transformation. 

As we all know, conflict often involves high emotion. Not everyone has the ability to manage their emotions, especially when their emotions are highly escalated. People sometimes completely lose awareness and control of their emotions and behavior.

Yet, in order for productive communication to happen and conflict to be resolved, everyone involved must feel safe enough to be able to discuss their experiences and negotiate agreements. That means that someone needs to being calm to the storm and help everyone de-escalate so that they can move forward together. But, how do we do that?

John Allen, a retired Sergeant from the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office and Lead Law Enforcement Instructor at the Central NM Law Enforcement Academy, joins me to provide us with some helpful understandings about de-escalating others and some effective tools that we can use to help us do that. I recorded this podcast live in front of an online audience at the 2021 State of New Mexico Alternative Dispute Resolution Symposium on October, 21 National Conflict Resolution Day.