Keep Your Cool: Conflict Skills for Life and Work
Six lessons on staying in the room when it gets hot. Seeing a situation clearly, saying what you need without starting a fight, calming things down when the other person is escalating, and knowing when to bring in someone else.
- 6 video lessons
- 36 minutes total
- 6 quizzes
- Student workbook
- Two pocket cards
- Certificate at 80 percent
This class opens soon.
All six lessons are finished and we are putting them online now. Put your name down and we will set up your account the day it opens.
A staff member answers within two business days.
What you walk away with
Conflict skills keep jobs and they keep housing. That is why this class exists.
- The difference between what happened and what you decided it meant
- Language for what you are feeling and what you actually need
- A request that gets a yes more often than a demand does
- Moves that lower the temperature instead of raising it
- Free mediation options in Harris County and how to use them
- A certificate with your name on it, signed by our executive director
The six lessons
Each one is a short video followed by a quiz. You need 80 percent on every quiz to earn the certificate.
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Conflict is not the enemy
Why conflict shows up, what it is telling you, and why avoiding it costs more than handling it.
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See it straight: observations and judgments
Separating what a camera would have recorded from the story you added on top of it.
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Name what is happening: feelings and needs
Putting words to what you feel and what you need. That is most of the work.
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Ask, do not demand
How to make a request someone can say yes to, and what to do when they say no anyway.
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Cooling it down: de-escalation under pressure
What to do when the other person is escalating. Tone, distance, timing, and when to walk away.
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Getting help: mediation and third parties
When you need someone else in the room, and the free mediation Harris County offers its residents.
What comes with it
- The videosSix lessons, about 36 minutes in total.
- The workbookA fill in workbook covering all six modules, as a PDF and an editable Word file, with an answer key.
- Two pocket cardsA feelings and needs card, and a getting help card with real Harris County phone numbers.
- The certificateIssued at 80 percent or better, emailed as a PDF.
The lessons are original Angels Nest writing. They teach concepts drawn from nonviolent communication and from published de-escalation training, with attribution inside the course.
Who this is for
Young people in and aging out of foster care, especially anyone living with roommates or starting a first job. Also the staff, foster parents, and case managers who are in these conversations every week.
This is not a class about being nice. It is a class about getting what you need without burning the relationship or the job.
Want it the day it opens?
Put your name down and we will email you as soon as the class goes live and set your account up then.
Last updated September 9, 2026