The TREE Blog: Ripples of Knowledge

When Failure Leads to Growth

Failure can bring up a mix of disappointing emotions. If we didn’t get first place or when we aren’t “the best,” we might struggle to come to terms with our shortcomings. It can be an especially hard life lesson to learn because often our fear of failure keeps us from

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How to Manage Miscommunication: Intent/Action/Effect

“I’m sure he knew what I meant.”  “She knows I was kidding!”  Sometimes, even when we have the best intentions, our words and actions hurt people. Maybe someone says something and it feels like a backhanded compliment. Or you respond with a sarcastic comment that leaves a sting. You can

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Youth stand in a semi-circle holding a web of yarn, smiling.

Celebrating Five Years of Peacemaking

In 2016, our small team of peace practitioners, educators and facilitators joined together to envision and plant new seeds of peace education for youth in Ontario. Over the past five years, our team has grown to include 42 facilitators and volunteers who have empowered 6,145 youth to build the peacemaking

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Positive diverse schoolchildren standing in corridor and talking

Managing Polarized Positions with Children and Youth

Have you ever been in conflict with someone where it seems like there is no solution because your views on a topic are so opposite? Have you ever felt like you couldn’t even enter into conversation about a topic because you felt you had no common ground? In these situations,

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man reading book beside woman reading book

Books to Build Your Conflict Toolkit

I love conflict.* *I love what healthy conflict can teach us about ourselves and the people around us, but even with years of training and experience, I still get anxious during tough conversations. So naturally, it comes up often in conversation with my friends and family. When they ask me,

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Multiethnic upset women scolding in room

Gottman’s 4 Horsemen, and What We Can Try Instead

When having conflict conversations, it can be easy to engage in behaviours that aren’t actually helpful to the situation. I know it happens to me sometimes, and it can happen in any relationship. Therapist Dr. John Gottman identified four behaviours, which he called the “Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse,” that

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