Susan Landes Beck's Page

What motivated you to become involved in peace and conflict resolution?

Undergrad and Graduate work in Social Work

Please feel free to provide a short bio about yourself (no more than 3 paragraphs)

I began in this field in 1992 as a VORP (Victim Offender Reconciliation Program) volunteer in Elkhart, Indiana. During the same time I was trained as a mediator and interned with a mediation center. During the mid-1990's I focused mainly on training and establishing peer mediation programs in schools, working at youth violence prevention, small-claims court mediations, and general church or organizational mediations and training.

Not satisfied that the conflict resolution field (at that point) provided all the answers (!), I pursued a Masters in Social Work and pursued a clinical track to better understand the human behavior and mental health dimension to conflict. I was particularly fascinated by the research on marital conflict and success and have since used the extensive longitudinal research available to lead over 20 weekend retreats for couples. I have spent the last 8 years working as a psychotherapist/Licensed Clinical Social Worker in mental health settings, and have enjoyed program development, marketing, and leadership opportunities in each organization.

Convinced again that the mental health field didn't hold the answers either I discovered that EMU's Center for Justice and Peacebuilding had taken the field of conflict transformation and peacebuilding closer to what I had envisioned by including trauma healing. Thus, I stepped back into this field into a marketing and program development position. Having left the field for 10 years, its grown immensely, the language has changed, and I am learning a lot. Hopefully I also have something to contribute.

Please list the countries and/or regions in which you have direct and significant expertise

USA

What is your current country of residence?

USA

What is your current job (and organization) and/or where and what field are you studying?

Marketing Director--EMU's Center for Justice and Peacebuilding

What is your personal or organizational website?

http://www.emu.edu/cjp/

Which are your primary sectoral areas of expertise?

Alternative Dispute Resolution, Conflict Resolution, Youth, Education, Organizational Development, Psychosocial

Which are your primary skills areas?

Training, Program Design, Program Administration

If appropriate feel free to list several of your publications

Community Mediation Training Manual
Peer Mediation Training Manual
Conflict Transformation Skills Training Manual