3 CPD Units in Professional Skills

Presenter: Megan Hunter, High Conflict Institute

Megan Hunter, MBA, is an expert and educator in the area of high-conflict legal disputes and relationships. She is CEO and co-founder of the High Conflict Institute with Bill Eddy, LCSW, Esq. who developed the high conflict personality theory. She is also the founder and publisher at Unhooked Media, a media company focused on high-conflict disputes and complicated relationships.

Megan has trained legal, mental health, business, leadership groups, universities and other professionals across the United States, Canada, South Africa, Israel and Australia. She has strong policy and judicial training experience during her tenure at the Arizona Supreme Court, Administrative Office of the Courts, and five years’ service to the Arizona Board of Psychologist Examiners. She is co-author of The High-Conflict Co-Parenting Survival Guide (2019); co-author of Dating Radar: Why Your Brain Says Yes to “The One” Who Will Make Your Life Hell (2017); and author of Bait & Switch: Saving Your Relationship When Incredible Romance Turns Into Exhausting Chaos (2015).

High-conflict people (HCPs) have a pattern of high-conflict behavior that increases conflict rather than reducing or resolving it. This pattern usually happens over and over again in many different situations with many different people. The issue that seems in conflict at the time is not what is increasing the conflict. The “issue” is not the issue. With HCPs the high-conflict pattern of behavior is the issue, including a lot of:  all-or-nothing thinking; unmanaged emotions; extreme behaviors, and blaming others. High-conflict cases are the most difficult cases to manage, can drag on for years, are the most likely cases to result in lawsuits and licensure complaints, and cause high levels of stress in the legal profession. This educational seminar unveils the driving force behind the behaviours and how to take opposite actions, which are not obvious or natural, with clients exhibiting these behaviours. Learn to calm them before shifting them into a problem-solving space wherein they make decisions about their cases with minimal outbursts and less damage to everyone in their path. Included in the training is a section on handling high-conflict opposing counsel, and on self-care. The training includes lecture, video, and practice exercises (it takes practice to fully absorb the many paradigm shifts of these high-conflict methods).