VIVAcitas enterprises


Dialogue presents itself as an indispensable component of the process of both learning and knowing.

Paulo Freire
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Our Profile ...who we are  

Erich Schellhammer
Rechtsreferendar, M.A., Ph.D.

Erich holds a law degree from Germany and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Philosophy from Queen’s University (Canada).

Over his 20 year academic career Erich has taught in the School of Human Justice at the University of Regina and he developed and now administers and teaches in the BA in Justice Studies at Royal Roads University in Victoria.

 

Barbara Schellhammer
Dipl.Soz.Päd. (FH), Ph.D.

Barbara holds a Social Work degree from Germany and has earned her Ph.D. in Philosophy from the Hochschule fuer Philosophie SJ Munich.

She is a professor at the International YMCA University in Kassel, Germany. She has been working as a systemic family therapist in outdoor settings, as a counsellor and as a coach. She coordinated a youth group in Germany, did intensive research in the Northwest Territories. She is also an associate faculty at Royal Roads University in Victoria, Canada.

…and why we do what we do:
 
Erich is interested in ontological models explaining the human condition. He uses these models to help people conceptualize and pursue suitable life-plans within complex systems.

As a consequence he is convinced of the truth of human dignity and the right of each person to always be treated as an end in itself. Erich also considers cultural diversity as the true wealth of humanity. He believes that through an awareness of identity, peaceful communication and life-enhancing values (ethics) we can attain fulfilled lives despite our differences.

Erich also thinks that we are most productive if our actions match our needs and he believes that this match can be achieved through coaching.

 Barbara believes that human beings experience meaning in their lives when they are able to live their values to satisfy their needs - to be who they are. Meaning is to be found in profound encounters with otherness, the world and God, because through those we learn about ourselves, or, as Martin Buber put it, “through the Thou a man becomes I.”

In times where traditions are crumbling old narratives lose their persuasiveness. The material world seems to suppress the importance of wisdom and knowledge. Experiencing one's identity - finding out who you are - is difficult. In post-modern times where “everything goes”, it is even more important to learn how to dialogue, how to resourcefully handle conflicts, to learn not to see differences as a threat, but as the beauty of humankind and the prerequisite to satisfy the need for meaning.

Erika Deines
BA (Justice Studies), C.Med., P.C.

 

 


Erika is a Chartered Mediator and Professional Coach and enjoys living her passion through her extensive coaching and mediation practice. She has launched an integrated approach to ADR, the Art of Dispute Resolution, and has accumulated ten plus years of experience mediating disputed workplace issues and coaching individuals, facilitating groups, as well as delivering adult education. Her holistic practice equips parties in dispute and organizations affected by conflict with learning and behaviour required to negotiate satisfactory, sustainable outcomes.

Erika recognizes that peoples’ differences may reside in culture-based values and styles of behaviour, but beneath our culture, our ethnicity, and our gender, we share fundamentally human qualities. Her work draws on those qualities, on the power of the “forces toward harmony”, to bring parties to common ground.

Erika’s client base comprises all levels of government, the energy (oil and gas) sector and the private sector. She has mediated for culturally diverse groups including First Nations, Asian cultures and African immigrant families. Erika also teaches conflict management to students in the Justice Studies program at Royal Roads University and for the Alberta Arbitration & Mediation Society’s Conflict Management Certificate program. She also is an instructor in the Art and Science of Coaching Certificate program for Erickson College International.