Maintaining Your Cool During Family Conflict with Kimberly Best

📝 Episode Overview:

In this episode, Laura welcomes Kimberly Best, a professional family mediator and former trauma nurse, to talk about one of the most stressful parts of caregiving: family conflict. Together, they explore practical ways to stay grounded, communicate effectively, and navigate emotionally charged situations with clarity and compassion.

Whether you’re feeling stuck in a family disagreement or just want to avoid future tension, this episode is packed with tools to help you maintain your cool and preserve peace.

👤 Meet Kimberly Best:

Kimberly Best is a trained family mediator and owner of Best Conflict Solutions. She specializes in conflict resolution within families, elder care, healthcare teams, and small organizations. Drawing from her experience as a trauma and ICU nurse, Kimberly brings both compassion and structure to emotionally complex situations. She is also the author of How to Live Forever: A Guide to Writing the Final Chapter of Your Life Story and is passionate about guiding people through meaningful, values-based conversations.

📌 Topics Discussed:

• What causes family conflict during caregiving
• Tips to de-escalate and stay calm in tense moments
• How to approach emotionally charged conversations
• The role of mediation in dementia and elder care
• Understanding grief, guilt, and family dynamics
• Why boundaries are an act of care—for everyone involved

⏱️ Timestamps (Approximate):

00:00 – Introduction and meeting Kimberly Best

01:38 – From ICU nurse to family mediator

04:44 – Common causes of conflict in caregiving

07:32 – The emotional landscape behind family disagreements

10:15 – Tips for staying grounded during family tension

14:08 – The difference between reacting and responding

16:42 – What transformative mediation really means

20:11 – How to begin difficult conversations with family

24:30 – Why “being right” can get in the way of resolution

28:19 – The role of grief and unspoken pain in conflict

31:47 – Setting boundaries and protecting your peace

35:04 – How to know when mediation might help

38:40 – Final encouragement and how to connect with Kimberly

💡 Key Takeaways:

• Family conflict is common in caregiving—but it’s not inevitable
• You can learn to respond instead of react, even in high-stress moments
• Mediation creates space for healing, not just problem-solving
• Clear communication starts with emotional awareness
• Peace doesn’t mean avoiding conflict—it means navigating it with intention

📚 Resources Mentioned:

• Best Conflict Solutions – Kimberly’s website
• Book: How to Live Forever: A Guide to Writing the Final Chapter of Your Life Story by Kimberly Best

🤝 Connect with Kimberly Best:

Website: bestconflictsolutions.com

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/kimberlybestmediator

Instagram: @kimberly_a_best

Facebook: Best Conflict Solutions

🌿 Connect with Laura Vaillancourt & the Life on Repeat Podcast:

Website:...

Outstanding discussion

This is my first episode and it felt like destiny listening to the experiences and guidelines from Kim and Laura. I felt like they were in my living room helping me with my father’s dementia and the struggles within our family. Can’t wait to listen to all of the episodes. Well done Kim. Thanks for sharing this Laura!

Great Information

The discussion opened up helpful information, including coping skills, self-care, and encouragement. I wrote down several quotes and spent time thinking about the discussion.