Managing Challenging Conversations through Skilled Facilitation: Conflict Resolution Part II

The ASBH has long endorsed the facilitation approach as the best model for ethics consultation yet many clinical ethics training programs do not offer skill-based training in this important technique. While mastery of multi-party facilitation is one of the core competencies, many ethics consultants have not been trained in facilitation techniques. Empirical data show that the majority of US clinical ethicists hold group meetings with clinical staff, patients, and families as part of an ethics consult, even though many have not had formal training in group facilitation techniques. Having skill-based knowledge in the approaches to group interaction is especially important when tensions in the group are running high and members of the group are experiencing anger, frustration, burnout, or moral distress. This workshop will provide facilitation foundational training by teaching group management, strategies to manage difficult and contentious conversations among and between the clinical team, family members, and patients, and pitfalls to avoid that can cause a group meeting to fail. In this hands-on workshop, participants will learn how to effectively conducting complex, multi-party, and emotionally charged meetings with a diverse set of stakeholders. Careful attention will be paid to the issue of values-imposition and how to avoid it in consultation. Participants will master advanced facilitation through a combination of didactic presentations, question and response activities, and small group activities.