Samantha Hardy PhD has over 25 years’ international experience practicing and teaching conflict management. She is the lead trainer at CCIAcademy.com and the founder of the REAL Conflict Coaching System.™ She provides conflict and leadership coaching and training face-to-face and online. In 2021, Samantha was presented with the Australian Resolution Institute Award for Service to Dispute Resolution for her outstanding contribution/practice in dispute resolution.
"""People in conflict tell stories about what they experienced – sometimes to mend the fabric of a newly-torn reality, or explore the meaning of what happened, or demonize their opponents, or justify their own behavior - but always to discover a way out, or return to their own un-conflicted selves, or tell the story in a way that imparts insight into the deeper reasons why it happened, allowing it to be forgotten. Samantha Hardy, a self-confessed ""pracademic,"" brings a wonderful combination of practical coaching and mediation skills, a high level of emotional insight, and a profound understanding of the nature of narrative and melodrama to this excellent and immensely useful book. Every practitioner will learn something from it and walk away with a deeper understanding of the role of melodrama and tragedy in conflict stories, and a great many practical coaching and mediation skills to boot! It is an enjoyable read and well worth the price."" - Kenneth Cloke, Mediator and author of The Dance of Opposites: Explorations in Mediation, Dialogue and Conflict Resolution Systems Design ""Sam is inviting you to look at conflict through a whole new set of eyes. The unique and entertaining lens that she is offering is 'genres of literature'. She has uncovered and is taking you on a journey to discover healthy and unhealthy conflict story patterns. These insights provide you with the power to (re)-write your own, or help others (re)-write their own, conflict narratives in a way that helps define new ways for moving forward and find peace with the past. A must for conflict specialists and people who want to critically reflect on their own approach to conflict."" - Claudia Butler, Professional Conflict Navigator, Australia"