Conflict Triage and Strategy Consult

I advise you, the executive, on how to approach the situation and prepare for your next steps.

Duration: 90 minutes
Format: Video conference
Investment: $1,750

Best when

• You are facing a conflict and need rapid clarity about:

  • what’s really going on

  • what options are viable

  • what to do next

• You want an external expert lens before deciding whether to:

• handle internally

• get trained to facilitate

• partner with an external facilitator 

Next Step 

For more information 

High-Stakes Communication Coaching

I coach a leader or clinician whose communication under pressure is putting their credibility, their role, team relationships, and/or patient experience at risk.

This focused intervention stabilizes stress-driven communication patterns before they escalate into job loss or lasting reputational damage. It goes beyond communication scripts or personality insights, addressing the underlying Protective Patterns that drive reactive escalation or conflict avoidance when the stakes are high.

This program is appropriate when the primary issue is individual high-stakes communication risk, not a multi-party facilitation need.

Duration: 6 months
Format: Video conference
Investment: Starting at $18,000

This program may be sponsored by an organization or purchased directly by the leader/clinician, for independent support.

Best when

The organization wants to retain a technically strong leader or clinician, but needs to see rapid, observable improvement in communication patterns that are generating risk. 

Also best when

• complaints about the individual's tone, reactivity, or interpersonal conduct are increasing or stakeholders have lost confidence due to conflict avoidance or rigidity
  

• HR or executive leadership has intervened (or is preparing to intervene)
  

• the individual is highly competent but ineffective under stress, because they avoid difficult conversations or do not hold them well
  

• the individual wants the support of confidential, structured coaching and is ready to engage fully in the process

Core Components

• Pre/Post assessment filled out by individual and their leader (if the coaching is sponsored by the organization)

• Opening goal setting and alignment session to define 1–2 priority behaviors and 1–2 key relationships to stabilize first

• Individualized assessment of escalation triggers, avoidance patterns, and protective communication habits

• Instruction in the Four Fundamentals of Drama-Free Communication applied to live cases

• Nervous-system stabilization strategies to prevent reactive outbursts and reduce avoidance/people-pleasing

• Structured preparation and rehearsal for high-stakes conversations (including clarity, empathy, and timing)

• Relationship repair planning where trust has been weakened by reactivity or avoidance

•  Between-session support and real-world application

•  Closing review and sustainment strategy

  
  Stakeholder input, periodic sponsor alignment sessions, and DiSC or Hogan Assessment may be included when appropriate, to clarify expectations and behavioral goals, and to inform self-awareness.

Key Roles

• Sponsor (executive leader or HR): clarifies expectations and behavioral standards, provides accountability where needed, and participates in periodic sponsor alignment check-ins (facilitated by Dr. Annie) focused on agreed-upon coaching goals.

•  Dr. Annie: I assess communication patterns and risk, design the stabilization strategy, coach for clear communication, guide planning for difficult conversations, facilitate debriefs to integrate learning afterward, and help the leader/clinician build capacity to stay steady under pressure.

•  Leader/Clinician (participant): attends coaching sessions consistently, completes self-assessments, practices tools between sessions, and uses coaching to prepare for, carry out, and debrief high-stakes conversations.

Measures of Success

During our Opening Goal Alignment Session, we will clarify your unique measures of success. Common examples include:

What others can observe:

• Fewer complaints or escalations related to the leader’s/clinician’s communication
  

• Clear improvement in one or two high-impact behaviors (E.g., tone under pressure, timely follow-through, responsiveness)
  

• More productive high-stakes conversations (less avoidance or reactivity; clearer decisions and next steps)
  

What the leader/clinician can reliably experience:

• Faster recovery after tense interactions (less rumination, regret, fatigue)
  

• Increased ability to notice activation early and use a reset to stay grounded and effective
  

• Greater confidence initiating the conversations they’ve been avoiding, and holding them well

Ethical Boundaries

I am not the decision-maker on disciplinary action, organizational policies, clinician credentialing, or HR outcomes. This coaching is not an HR investigation, legal mediation, or therapy.

Confidentiality is protected. If the engagement is sponsor-funded, sponsor updates focus on agreed-upon behavioral goals and observable progress markers and do not include session content, personal history, or private details shared in coaching.

I will not deliver this program if:

• the organization’s goal is punitive rather than corrective and stabilizing
  

• no sponsor is willing to clarify expectations and support accountability (when sponsor-funded)
  

•  active investigation and/or legal processes make coaching inappropriate (a strategy consult may be a better first step)
  

• the organization to receive reports that violate confidentiality or disclose session content
  
  

Next Step

For more information

Skill Building for You

I teach you how to facilitate resolution yourself and coach you through a real case.

This active learning program goes beyond typical mediation training and executive coaching programs, so you can confidently handle your current situation (and future ones) without being dependent on outside intervention.

Duration: up to 3 months
Format: Video conference
Investment: $25,000

Best when

• The organization wants to keep facilitation internal (for access, speed, cost, or culture reasons) and needs:

  • a rigorous process design

  • neutral structure

  • skill support to prevent the conversation from going sideways
    
    

• The conflict is of low to moderate complexity, the internal facilitator has credibility with all parties, and the organization can provide supplemental resources to support the facilitator

Core Components

• Individualized instruction on my Four Fundamentals of Drama-Free Communication and my proven approach to facilitating conflict resolution

• Individual coaching sessions + support between sessions to help you prepare for, debrief, and learn from an actual facilitation process

• DiSC assessment + individual debriefs for you and the (2-3) people who are in conflict

• Opening alignment session

• Closing review and sustainment session

Key Roles

• Sponsor (you or your leader): ensures authority, resources, and consequences where needed

• Dr. Annie: I design the facilitation approach, train and coach the facilitator (you), provide tools, help plan the conflict facilitation sequence, coach you on de-escalation and relationship repair, debrief the facilitated meetings to deepen learning and build competence

• Internal facilitator (you): runs the facilitated meetings, documents as needed per organizational policy, ensures participants generate clear, behavioral agreements that strengthen their professional relationship

Next Step

For more information 

Direct Facilitation

I facilitate the conflict resolution process for you, working directly with the hard-to-replace clinicians and/or leaders involved in the conflict.

Duration: 6-8 weeks 
Format: Video conference + In person (optional)
Investment: $35,000

Best when

• The conflict is urgent, too complex, or too politically charged for internal facilitation

• Facilitator's neutrality is essential and/or too challenging for internal facilitators

• Parties are entrenched in conflict and prior attempts at resolution have failed

• Expectations of resolution and consequences of continued conflict have been made clear to the parties

• Parties are committed to resolving their conflict and want the support of a skilled facilitator

Core Components

• Orientation to my Four Fundamentals of Drama-Free Communication and my proven approach to facilitating conflict resolution

• Opening alignment and goal-setting session with you, up to 2 other executives whose direct reports are involved in the conflict, and up to 2 organizational resources you want to include (such as HR / Employee Relations / Medical staff relations)

• DiSC assessment + individual debriefs the (2-3) people who are in conflict and their direct leaders

• Individual "pre-brief" coaching sessions for each of the (2-3) people who are in conflict, to prepare for the facilitated conversation

• One facilitated conflict resolution meeting (additional meetings available, at an additional fee)

• Closing review and sustainment session

• Additional deliverables as appropriate to your unique situation and scope

Key Roles 

• Leader(s) of the parties who are in conflict (you): Your role is to set clear expectations and real consequences for the people who are in conflict, attend the facilitated conversation as a resource, sponsor any new agreements or action plans that emerge from the facilitation, and periodically review progress with the parties. You retain authority for employment actions and policy enforcement.

• Dr. Annie: I am the neutral facilitator and process owner (within agreed scope). I lead the pre-briefs, structure the facilitated conversation, manage escalation in real time, facilitate clear agreements between the parties, and design follow-through.

Measures of Success 

• During our clarity call, we will clarify your unique measures of success. Common examples include the following:

• Clear, behavior-based agreements and compliance with them

• Reduction in complaints about and/or escalations between the parties

• Improved working relationship (not necessarily “friendship”) between the parties

• Reduced operational drain (meetings avoided, workarounds, colleague complaints, attrition)

Ethical Boundaries

• I am not the decision-maker on disciplinary action, organizational policies, clinician credentialing, or HR outcomes.

• This program is not appropriate if:

• no sponsor is committed to supporting and enforcing follow-through after the facilitated conversation

• the organization is using “facilitated conflict resolution” to achieve punitive goals

• the organization expects to receive reports that would violate confidentiality of the parties

• there are unresolved investigation and/or legal processes that make facilitation inappropriate (A strategy consult—Option 1 above—might be appropriate in those situations).  

Next Step 

For more information