I Hate Conflict!: Seven Steps to Resolving Differences with Anyone in Your Life

It's the rare person who relishes conflict. Most of us live our lives either avoiding it, which never works for long, or expressing it in counter-productive ways. Even those of us who deal with conflict on a professional basis---I'm a divorce lawyer and mediator---are not immune to the physical and emotional toll that it can take on us (not to mention on our clients). With that in mind, I'm happy to report that Lee Raffel's new book, "I Hate Conflict!", is a useful, accessible, and unthreatening approach to a subject that most people dread. Drawing on a lifetime of hard-earned lessons (including an abusive first marriage), and a long career as a social worker and marriage counselor, Ms. Raffel looks at conflict from a variety of angles, but always with a view to offering sensible advice and real-world solutions. My guess is that she's an excellent therapist, because she has a client-centered approach that comes through loud and clear. The reader feels that he's in the same room with her, engaged in conversation with a wise and caring counselor, a counselor who knocks herself out to make her clients' lives more satisfying and less stressful. I recommend the book.

Very few people in the world enjoy getting in fierce arguments with their fellow man - and "I Hate Conflict!: Seven Steps to Resolving Differences with Anyone in Your Life" understands this completely. Offering many options to help people resolve their issues and strengthen their relationships with others, it's an ideal guide to anyone who wants a more peaceful resolution to their conflicts. "I Hate Conflict! Seven Steps to Resolving Differences with Anyone in Your Life" is highly recommended to community library self-help collections.

Lee Raffel writes the way I think. She offers clear direction and definitions that are helpful in clinical work as well as in personal situations. Another winner!

I have added Lee's book to my Master Bibliography for all of my classes - conflict management, emotional intelligence, leadership, coaching and more. She is so good at making it easy to understand and follow. This is a very valuable book to have around when you know that conflict conversation needs to happen. Patricia Clason, www.patriciaclason.com

About 90% of us hate conflict. And that's a big problem, because there's a lot of conflict that comes up in relationships, and if all you do is cave, that's not good for you or the relationship. And here comes Lee Raffel's wise and helpful book to the rescue. For the first time in your life maybe you will get everything you need to be able to handle conflict without avoiding it, to stick up for yourself and have your own voice without sinking into a gut-wrenching fight.