ABOUT US
John Radford | Viola Neufeld | As a Team
John Radford Ph.D. Psychology
Through a blend of facilitation and analysis John has brought together the fields of conflict utilization and change for sustained organizational success. His experience and skill set are ideally suited to working with family business transitions, facilitating strategic decisions based on the reality of the competitive business world and family dynamics.
John has specialised in the analysis and facilitation of complex organizational conflict working in the commercial, government, labour and community sectors. A major focus of his work in North America has been on reconciliation and trust building in business relationships. John is well respected for helping organizations work through destructive conflict and has created a number of processes and methodologies for assisting stakeholders to understand and express conflict in constructive ways. The mark of his approach is the identification of pivotal leverage points to effect structural and relational changes necessary for sustainable effectiveness.
For over twenty years John has been facilitating conflict from interpersonal fallouts to violent situations following injury or death. He understands that although every conflict has a history, it is the future that is at stake. He understands that no matter how complex the conflict is that at some level it makes sense and that the path to the future can only be found by coming to terms with the reality of the present.
John has created international precedent in conflict systems design in the following areas:
- Developed the process of Relationship Mapping for conflict systems analysis.
- Worked on the IMSSA team to design the conflict resolution system for the land reform process in South Africa. This involved integrating the conflict resolution system with the land reform legislative process
- Facilitated the process for the establishment of an emergency response protocol between BC Police Services, BC Treaty negotiators and First Nation groups.
- Adapted and prototyped the Relationships by Objectives (RBO) process for organizational conflict. He has facilitated a number of RBO’S in Canada, the most recent for a northern government agency in Western Canada.
Credentials
John has a Ph.D. in Organizational Psychology from the University of Natal, South Africa. He is a certified mediator with Independent Mediation Service of South Africa on the Labour, Commercial, Community and Relationship Building Initiative panels. In 1984, he was amongst the first group of South African mediators to be trained by members of the Federal Mediation Service of America, and the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service of Britain (ACAS).
He has received international training in Deep-Rooted Conflict Mediation at:
- ACAS: Portsmouth, Britain
- John Hopkins Institute for Peace: New York
- The Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution: George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia. He received ongoing input and mentoring from the head of this institute, Professor James H. Laue, until his death in September, 1993.
John is an associate faculty member on the Royal Roads University Masters program in Conflict Analysis and Management, and held a Chair (Full Professor) in the School of Management Studies at the University of Cape Town, South Africa from 1993 to 2002.
Viola Neufeld M.S.W., R.S.W.
Viola assists individuals, couples, families and organizations in improving the quality of their personal lives and their relationships. Through engaging with the story and the situation, Viola facilitates a process which leads to increased self understanding and understanding of the other. Unproductive yet sensible cycles and patterns begin to emerge. Respectfully, Viola helps you get to the internal or underlying dynamics that maintain the very behaviors which limit your effectiveness. Viola helps you gain life-giving perspectives particularly when you are stuck in the midst of a difficult situation. The result is an increased sense of hope due to the ability to see options and alternatives previously unknown.
For more than 20 years Viola has worked with individuals and organizations in both the private and public sector to develop and maintain relationships that work. Viola applies systemic theory whether she works with an individual or groups of people. Through a coaching relationship Viola has assisted business owners, executives, managers and individuals in attaining increased clarity in direction, heightened levels of productivity and life balance. Viola has facilitated necessary and often difficult conversations amongst co-workers, family members, church members and couples, collaboratively designing strategies to maximize results bringing sustainable life changes. Throughout the years Viola has also conducted training sessions on relationship effectiveness and making conflict work for you. Viola has been a business owner of several companies, has worked as a Couple and Family Therapist and taught as a Sessional Instructor in a graduate institute for 8 years.
Credentials
Viola is Registered Couple and Family Therapist with the British Columbia Association for Marriage and Family Therapy www.bcamft.bc.ca which is a division of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. Viola is a clinical member of the Registry of Marriage and Family Therapists in Canada. In addition, Viola is a Registered Social Worker with the Board of Registration for Social Workers in British Columbia www.brsw.bc.ca and graduated from California State University with a Masters in Social Work. Viola serves as a board member for the British Columbia Association for Marriage and Family Therapy.
As a Team
Working as a team, John and Vi bring complimentary macro and micro perspectives to the conflict at hand. Though they share the same perspective regarding the value of conflict, they are likely to approach problems from a different angle. John views the problem with a wide-angled lens if you will, viewing it in the context in which it exists, whereas Vi views the problem with a telephoto lens and sees leverage points which aren’t necessarily visible initially. Their gender complimentarily brings with it a depth and breadth that leaves clients feeling understood and also helps them stretch beyond their current perspective. As Vi and John engage parties and help them shift through impasses back to the business of work, substantial and sustainable change reflected in the bottom line becomes a reality. Their facilitation is enlivening, challenging, supportive and often life-changing.