Our Theory
Handling conflict with clarity and creativity is essential to every organization's well-being. Yet, the most common responses to conflict are fight (confrontation) or flight (avoidance), as people seek to conquer or avoid stressful situations. Fight or flight responses to conflict often result in profound personal, institutional and financial costs.

The ARIA Group works with clients to teach engagement as an alternative to fight or flight. The benefits of successfully engaging conflict include:
• Improved communication
• Greater Productivity
• Increased creativity
• Enhanced relationships
• Organizational and personal learning
 
Our Practice
Conflict creates strong feelings, evoking our instincts toward fight or flight. To move towards resolution, conflicts must be analyzed rationally and objectively, but without ignoring the very real cares, frustrations and antagonisms that fuel them.
Because conflict originates in relationships and interactions, the ARIA Method focuses on a process-based approach to conflict management and resolution. Whether applied at the level of individual self-analysis, between two parties in conflict, or as a tool for mediators intervening between conflicted parties, the ARIA Method moves participants toward constructive engagement and creative problem solving.

The ARIA Group's practitioners guide clients in the steps toward calmly evaluating their own responses to conflict in general and to the conflict at hand. By fostering a new awareness of shared interests and goals, the ARIA Method leads to cooperation and common cause between former antagonists. With the ARIA framework mastered, clients learn to apply it independently in order to creatively manage future conflict.
 

What People Say About ARIA Conflict Engagement