Conflict Coach with Dr. Emily Taylor

Join Dr. Emily Taylor as she does something a little different this week—she sits down with her mom, Miriam, to talk about what conflict looks like across a lifetime. Perhaps you have someone older in your life, a parent, grandparent, or older friend who you look up to in your life? Having a conversation with them like the one Emily has with her mother can be a great way to gain new insights into...

Join Dr. Emily as she coaches Vicky, who has reached a breaking point in a long-simmering conflict with a fellow volunteer leader in her church congregation. It’s a conflict that will feel familiar to anyone who has been a leader in a volunteer organization like a PTA or neighborhood board where passionate people with different communication and leadership styles all try to do good things together...

Join Dr. Emily Taylor as she coaches Clay who is estranged from his sister and ambivalent about reconciling. Like Clay, you may have conflicts that you don’t feel motivated to resolve, but also feel a little guilty about that. “I know I should want to fix this,” says Clay. Dr. Emily helps him explore the reasons for his indifference and assess whether it’s something he wants to honor or ignore. So...

Join Dr. Emily Taylor as she coaches Maya through her complex family estrangement. Like Maya, you may have estranged relatives or friends that you’d like to reconnect with, but fears of manipulation or accidentally worsening the conflict may make you hesitant. Dr. Emily helps Maya understand her hesitations, and gives her concrete skills for moving forward. Tune in to glean practical strategies an...

Dr. Emily Taylor kicks off the new year by introducing five essential skills for managing conflicts more effectively in 2026. With the new year, you may have goals or resolutions related to conflicts in your life. Listen along as she offers insights pulled from previous episodes of Conflict Coach. In this episode, you’ll learn how to: - Focus on your relationship - Work towards repair in small ste...

Dr. Emily Taylor coaches Naomi, who is struggling with her father's distance from their shared faith. Religious or not, you’ve likely been in a scenario where you wished someone else shared your deeply-held conviction. Naomi shares her heartfelt desire to reconnect with her father through her faith, and Dr. Emily offers insights into distinguishing between persuasion and manipulation. Together, th...

Dr. Emily Taylor coaches Spencer, a young professional feeling unappreciated at his job. At some point or another, you’ve probably felt stuck in a job, a relationship, or some other situation, and didn’t know how to get out of it. This episode dives into navigating how to align your goals and aspirations with what’s going on in your life. Whether you're facing similar issues at work or in other ar...

In this special episode, Dr. Emily Taylor is joined by producer Mitchell Tousley to share tips for handling five common conflicts that happen around the holidays. Together, they discuss practical strategies for managing family expectations, balancing time between multiple families, navigating gift-giving differences, recognizing holiday labor, and respecting diverse beliefs and traditions. Whether...

Dr. Emily Taylor coaches Sarah, who is feeling increasingly frustrated with the inconsistency of her long-time friend Julie. We all have cherished friendships that we’d like to last forever, but knowing when it’s time to let one go is an important part of maintaining healthy boundaries. In this episode, Dr. Emily helps Sarah understand the signs of growing out of a friendship and the opportunity t...

Dr. Emily Taylor coaches Laura, who is having conflict with a new coworker and wonders if she’s the cause of the tension. If you're someone who likes to be liked - and most of us are! - it's easy to slip into blaming yourself for conflicts in your life. In this coaching session, Dr. Emily helps Laura to unpack why she sees herself as the cause of the tension and how that limits the options Laura h...

Dr. Emily Taylor coaches Kristy, who is struggling to advocate for herself at work and now faces discipline that could result in her firing. The longer you wait to acknowledge your own needs in a conflict, the harder it becomes. Kristy has spent more than a decade keeping her vision loss a secret at work, even though she has a legal right to receive assistance. Now that her eyesight is affecting h...

Dr. Emily Taylor coaches Stacie, who recently lost her sister to suicide and is in conflict with her late sister’s husband. Grief can heighten the tension in relationships and sometimes makes it difficult to identify what our own needs are in conflict. Dr. Emily helps Stacie sift through her hurt and anger to pinpoint her core need in the conflict. In the process, Stacie discovers new options to p...

Tired of feeling overwhelmed by conflict in your life? Learn the skills to confidently handle any conflict, as certified mediator Dr. Emily Taylor coaches real people through real conflicts in their lives. From family struggles to workplace disputes, neighborhood conflicts to in-law disagreements, each episode of Conflict Coach with Dr. Emily Taylor gives you concrete strategies to find the root o...

Dr. Emily Taylor shares updates on several people she coached in Season One of the show. Has Jeff (Episode 9) found better work-life balance? Did Morgan (Episode 8) reconcile with her estranged sister? What happened with Sara’s coworker conflict in Episode 10? How did Erika (Episode 1) end up resolving things with her husband? Did Tyler (Episode 5) find a way to connect with his sister so they cou...

Dr. Emily Taylor coaches Tina whose 11-year-old son is being harassed by another boy at school. Tina admits she usually tries to avoid confronting issues directly, but felt an important boundary was crossed and she needed to make sure the school was addressing the problem. Now Tina’s worried how the fallout from the conflict will affect her son at school and her own social interactions with the ot...

Dr. Emily Taylor coaches Claire, who is in a stalemate with her young adult daughter, who still lives at home and is not progressing toward independence. The daughter is 23 and has Autism Spectrum Disorder and ADHD. Claire tries to be compassionate, but suspects her daughter is capable of more.  A lot of conflicts involve uncertainty around what to realistically demand of the other person - maybe...

Dr. Emily Taylor coaches Sara - a young professional in her 30s - who is being treated unkindly by a coworker. Peer relationships often experience the most conflict because there are so many opportunities for friction. Sara’s coworker is also a friend who helped her get the job and now seems to be looking for any reason to disagree and dismiss Sara’s opinions. Dr. Emily coaches Sara through a role...

Dr. Emily Taylor helps Jeff address the challenge of balancing his high-conflict job with his personal life. Jobs that involve constant conflict navigation carry a unique risk: how you deal with disagreements at work can seep into how you handle things with your spouse or kids. In this coaching session, Dr. Emily coaches Jeff to identify his needs for achieving a balanced life and behaviors to hel...

Dr. Emily Taylor helps Morgan sort through the pain of being cut off by her sister and options for moving forward. Family estrangement is incredibly painful and surprisingly common. An estimated one-quarter of all adults in the US are estranged from a close family member. But reconciliation can - and often does - happen. In this coaching session, Dr. Emily offers Morgan a chance to talk through he...

Dr. Emily Taylor helps Ann understand why efforts to smooth things over with a sister-in-law aren’t working. There are different ways to go about resolving a conflict and we each have our preferred approach: compete; accommodate; compromise; or collaborate. If you’re stuck in a repetitive conflict, that may be a sign your typical approach isn’t the best fit for the situation. In this coaching sess...

Dr. Emily Taylor helps a mid-career professional to consider the root of a work conflict. When we’re filled with regret about something we’ve done or said in the past, it can be difficult to see a path forward in conflict. Finding compassion for ourselves can help us see missteps as learning opportunities to do better in the future. In this coaching session, Dr. Emily helps Rachel identify why she...

Dr. Emily Taylor helps with a conflict over shared space. We all fill different roles in our families – mother, father, sister, brother - but sometimes when we fall back into those roles, we can end up perpetuating patterns that don’t really serve us in conflict. In this coaching session, Dr. Emily helps Tyler identify the roles that are fueling a current conflict around responsibilities for maint...

Dr. Emily Taylor helps a manager prepare to meet with an angry employee. When you feel under attack in a tense meeting, it’s natural to react in ways that make the situation worse. Try practicing your approach to the meeting ahead of time. In this coaching session, Dr. Emily does a series of role-playing exercises to help Elizabeth prepare a script for her next meeting with an employee who has exp...

Dr. Emily Taylor coaches a parent to discover the root of a repetitive disagreement. There’s a good chance the conflict you’re struggling with is about something deeper than you realize. That’s what Erika discovers in this coaching session about what seems like a minor, repetitive disagreement around mealtimes with her young daughters. In this coaching session, Dr. Emily guides Erika through strat...

Dr. Emily Taylor coaches a homeowner in conflict with his neighbor over parking. The story you’re telling yourself about a conflict may have important gaps that are preventing you from finding resolution. In this episode, Dr. Emily coaches Logan to consider the narrative he’s created of a disagreement with his neighbor over parking that has escalated to threats of calling the police. In this episo...