Conflict Resolution and Mediation 4: Understanding Mediation as a Youth Leader

Help us spread the word about PYLP

  • Tell others, your friends, classmates and anyone else who might benefit from these materials.
  • Share us on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media sites.
  • Review us on your Social Media Pages, e.g. on YouTube. Use the #PYLP. Great reviews help others find us.

“A Mediator must be able to summarize people’s opinions and feelings without letting their own opinions and feelings negatively impact the process.”

Dr. Manisha

Who are the presenters?

Dr. Tim Paquette is a licensed psychologist and the Assistant Director of Northern Illinois University’s Counseling and Consultation Services department.  He completed his Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana and has been working at NIU since 2004.  When he was six years old, his family adopted his sister who was born in Seoul, South Korea.  This event had a significant impact on Dr. Paquette, and it provided the foundation for his interest in multicultural and cross-cultural issues.  His other areas of professional interest include relationship concerns, conflict management, and college student development.  Dr. Paquette has been a PYLP presenter for many years now, and he had the honor of traveling to Cebu City, Philippines in August 2011 for the PYLP Year 8 Follow-On Program.  

Dr. Manisha Rustagi has been working as a Staff Counselor at Counseling and Consultation Services for Northern Illinois University since August 2018. She earned her Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from Ball State University in Muncie, IN, in 2019. Dr. Rustagi’s lived experiences related to growing up in Delhi, India, and then moving to the U.S. for graduate school had a significant impact on her identity development as a bicultural, bi-ethnic, and multicultural individual. As such, she is passionate about multicultural and social justice issues. Her other areas of special interest include trauma, supervision and training, positive interpersonal relationships, compassion for self and others, couples therapy, and group therapy. In her work, she uses an integrative approach that combines tenets of emotion-focused therapy, interpersonal process, systems perspective, gestalt therapy, and positive psychology. She is also enthusiastic about outreach services as it helps her to connect with students and faculty at a broader level. This is her first time presenting at PYLP.  

What is the presentation about?

The presentation gives student leaders an overview of the mediation process and the role of a trained mediator to facilitate a solution to a conflict and to explore different ways to resolve conflict. Discussion also includes tips on how to assess a situation before attempting mediation.

To do the tasks below and accomplish the learning outcomes, please watch this video presentation or watch via YouTube.

What are your tasks and the learning outcomes?

  1. On Your Own: To explore different ways of resolving conflict and write about it
  2. With a Team: To examine conflict situations for mediation in one’s family and community
  3. With Your Community: To organize a dialogue with youth and adult in the community and distinguish community-based strategies of resolving conflict