The West Paris Library is presenting a communications workshop Jan. 31 to help people navigate awkward or uncomfortable conversations with others. Session facilitators are educator Robin Dunn and life coach Stephanie Frykholm, both of West Paris.

The three-hour workshop is free and will start at 2:30 p.m. at the library at 226 Main St.

This will be the first workshop Dunn and Frykholm lead in Maine, but they have facilitated the program for private, civic and education groups across the western U.S., including in Colorado and Washington.

“This workshop is pertinent for any times, not just the current time,” library Director Brenda Gould said. “Anytime there is more than one person in a room there is potential to not see eye to eye on any given subject. There are ways to navigate in a good and kind way where everyone is friends or at least better understand on the other side.”

The core skills to be learned at the workshop, titled “How toTalk with Someone Who Sees It Differently,” include identifying a conflict, acknowledging a person’s viewpoint and validating them, and using patience and space to diffuse tensions.

“We focus on skills useful for encounters or in conflicts across all spectrums,” Frykholm said. “It is not a cure-all. Our goal is to provide a safe place for people to practice their reactions to just every day things that can set them off.”

“One example might be tail-gaiting,” Dunn said. “One person may drive slowly because they feel it is safer. Another person feels driving too slow is unsafe. Either person may become angry or frustrated when it happens, but their shared concern is for road safety.”

Dunn referred to a professional situation where she received an email from an irate parent and turned the skills she teaches inward before responding.

“My reaction to myself was ‘give me some time and space and I can come back to this,'” Dunn recalled. “When I did return to the parent we had a fantastic conversation.”

“It’s not about changing minds,” Frykholm said. “It’s not debating. It’s about shifting how you acknowledge differences in values.”

The program is free but registration is required. More information can be found at the West Paris Library’s Facebook events page.