Barbara Barnes

Barbara came to mediation and facilitation through Kenneth Cloke. She has been a practitioner of Transformative Facilitation and Mediation for over 15 years.  Before that she practiced Non Violent Communication (NVC) and worked with people and groups in conflict and trauma through using skills from Hakomi, a form of Body Centered Psychotherapy as well as NVC. Barbara works with groups, individuals, organizations and communities who are experiencing conflict. Her depth of knowledge in ways to work with trauma, mindfulness and the neurology of conflict helps create a container that clients find conducive for working collaboratively to transform their conflicts and come to agreements that are sustainable over time. This is because they are rooted in understanding before agreement. Barbara enjoys teaching facilitators and mediators ways to use mindfulness and trauma best practices as well as methods for transformative conflict facilitation. Barbara lives in central Montana, hikes the back country, studies mindfulness, nerds out on neurology and conflict, enjoys a good BBC mystery and is an avid reader. Her background includes running a domestic abuse shelter, adult probation and parole work, construction project management, intensive mental health advocacy, medical advocacy, body work and helping horses who suffered trauma. She has an adult daughter who is a journalist and podcast producer.