Seminar Details

DAY 1  UNDERSTANDING & MANAGING HIGH CONFLICT PERSONALITIES IN

             LITIGATION, NEGOTIATION & MEDIATION

High Conflict Personalities: Traits and Disorders
An overview is provided of the DSM-IV-TR diagnostic criteria of several personality disorders, traits of which most often drive high conflict cases, including:  Borderline, Narcissistic, Histrionic, Antisocial, and Paranoid. An analysis will be presented of the general litigation and negotiating behavior of these personality types, with case examples. Common cognitive distortions of these personalities will be explained.

Handling High Conflict Personalities in Litigation, Mediation and Collaborative Law
Professionals dealing with high conflict people need to pay more attention to Bonding, Structure, Reality Testing and Consequences. In litigation, there are predictable problems and sources of useful evidence. In mediation, there are several skills to manage and move these clients to agreements. In Collaborative Law, everyone is more effective if they share a common understanding of high-conflict personalities and methods to manage them.

Ethical problems are common in high-conflict cases, as people with high conflict personalities push normal boundaries, seek many favors, have a sense of entitlement, don’t pay all their fees and are the clients most likely to sue professionals.

Who Should Attend
Attorneys, Judges/Judicial Officers, Mediators, Therapists, Psychologists, Social Workers, Custody Evaluators, Family Court Counselors, Parenting Coordinators, Guardians ad Litem, Law Enforcement, Child Abuse and Domestic Violence Advocates, Support Staff, Graduate Students and Other Professionals

DAY 2  HIGH CONFLICT PERSONALITIES IN FAMILY LAW

             Previous attendance at a Day 1 High Conflict training recommended, but not required.

Family Dynamics, Alienation and Professional “Splitting”
Those with personality disorders “split” people into all good and all-bad. This unconscious defense mechanism drives much of their abusive behavior, false allegations and disputes with professionals trying to assist them. Family members often become “split” with pressure to take sides, including the children, which appears as alienation between some parents and children. Professionals may also become “split” with personal conflict arising between them. Ways to manage these families and prevent professional splitting will be presented.

Assessing True and False Reports of Abuse
Reports of sexual abuse and domestic violence are the focus of many high-conflict cases. True and false reports appear the same on the surface, often with no physical evidence, extreme emotions, questionable factual statements and strongly-felt professional opinions. Professionals tend to minimize the occurrence of true abuse on one hand and tend to disregard the existence of false reports honestly felt or for personal gain on the other hand. An open-minded, evidence-based approach will be presented that recognizes the wide range of factual information in these cases.

Who Should Attend
Attorneys, Judges/Judicial Officers, Mediators, Therapists, Psychologists, Social Workers, Custody Evaluators, Family Court Counselors, Parenting Coordinators, Guardians ad Litem, Law Enforcement, Child Abuse and Domestic Violence Advocates, Support Staff, Graduate Students and Other Professionals

DAY 3  ADVANCED SKILLS TRAINING

             Previous attendance at a Day 1 High Conflict training recommended, but not required.

Advanced Skills for Handling High Conflict People in Legal Disputes
Handling people with high conflict personalities (HCPs) takes lots of practice, because they require methods that are often the opposite of what professionals automatically feel like doing.

 

The focus of this seminar will be on practice exercises, applying the four key skills of: Bonding, Structuring, Reality-Testing and Consequences with potentially high conflict clients or disputing parties.

The day will include a brief review of the HCP Theory and four key skills in managing and resolving high conflict disputes. 

• Bonding exercises focus on building arms-length, but empathetic relationships with highly distressed clients.
• Structuring exercises include establishing boundaries, assigning tasks, crisis management, and creating a sense of safety and joint responsibility.
• Reality testing addresses common cognitive distortions and lying, while focusing on conflict resolution rather than shame and blame.
• Consequences include predicting breach of agreements and orders, writing consequences into agreements and orders, threatening consequences, and implementing case-appropriate consequences.

Many case examples and practice scenarios will be provided, but participants are also encouraged to bring their own problem case scenarios. Participants will have role-play exercises in pairs, triads, and small groups.

Who Should Attend
This seminar is designed for attorneys, mediators, judges, mental health professionals, collaborative professionals, and other professionals involved with the resolution of legal disputes.

Cancellation/Refund Policy
Registrants who are unable to attend a seminar may obtain a refund of their registration fee, minus a $50 administrative fee, if a written request (mail, fax or email) is received at least thirty (30) days prior to the first day of the seminar.

We will be unable to refund registration fees for cancellations received within thirty (30) days of the seminar. Registrants who cancel within thirty (30) days may apply those fees less a $100 cancellation fee toward a future seminar.  "No shows" are subject to the full fee.

All cancellation/refund notifications and requests should be submitted to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it   or 7701 E. Indian School Rd., Ste. D., Scottsdale, AZ 85251 or fax 602-476-7349.

In the unlikely event that a seminar is canceled, full refunds will be given to participants who have registered, but we cannot be responsible for costs that may be incurred for airline and hotel reservations and other expenses.

We apply for MCLE accreditation in each state that we host our seminars. Contact us for more information.