Umbrella Dialogue
space for connection and change
Welcome
Do you sometimes get overwhelmed by your feelings or impulses? Do you ever feel like parts of you are stuck in past experiences?
would you like support in your relationship with a Spouse, partner, friend, family member, or colleague?
Tauno Biltsted works with individuals, couples and groups to explore internal dynamics and build resources for change
I have been deeply involved in facilitating community conversation, dialogue, and building creative consensus for over 25 years. A Certified Practitioner in IFS, I also combine approaches drawn from mediation, Gestalt, motivational interviewing, conflict coaching, trauma-informed counseling, and participatory facilitation.
Using an IFS informed approach I provide therapeutic coaching to individuals, focused on increasing internal awareness, regulation and ease. I work to support couples and romantic partners in conversations around patterns of conflict, sex and intimacy, racial difference, parenting, drug use and other areas of connection.
I work with couples, families and groups who are experiencing conflict and breakdowns in communication. And I facilitate conversations and provide structured trainings for community groups seeking to work on conflict management, planning and internal communication.
With a flexible and client-centered approach I work with clients to build a reliable space where they can explore their current situations and work towards personal and collective growth. Through non-judgmental, in-depth interviewing, parts work, and critical inquiry I work with individuals and groups working towards better integrated relationships.
To learn more about the range of services offered reach out for a free consult by email: builtsteady@gmail, call/text 917 470 6228, or fill out the contact form below.
Services
IFS informed Coaching for Individuals
I work with individuals who are interested in getting to know themselves better as a step towards increasing their sense of ease and ability in the world. Using an IFS informed approach within a non-judgmental framework of facilitation I work with people who want to untangle and reweave patterns in their lives. As a conflict and relationship coach I work with individuals who want to address a full range of relationship issues: interpersonal and romantic relationships, workplace relationships, and community relationships.
Conflict and Communications Coaching for Couples and Families
Using a multi-partial approach I work with couples and families to increase their range and abilities to engage in courageous and open conversations. I work with areas of relationship ranging from work and income in the family, intimacy and sex, rupture and repair, negotiating class, racial and ethnic difference, religion and faith, negotiating around parenting and finances, internet use, drug use and other issues with adolescents, and other conversations that are prioritized by the couple or family. I enjoy working with couples and families who express a wide range of human sexuality, gender expressions and romantic partnerships, including heterosexual couples, queer couples, polyamorous relationships, and other romantic or sexual partnerships.
Psychedelic Preparation and Integration Coaching
Using IFS and Gestalt approaches to heightening awareness I support individuals working with psychedelics and experiences with non-ordinary reality as part of their personal journey. Through compassionate inquiry and parts work I support clients in assessing and mobilizing their internal resources, clarifying their intentions, and planning for a safe and supportive experience. Integration sessions support clients in digesting, processing and giving shape to the healing and insights that can emerge from powerful experiences.
Mediation
Umbrella Dialogue combines traditional interest-based negotiation approaches with counseling and narrative approaches to support opposing parties in seeking mutually agreeable solutions. I have experience working with divorces, disputes between friends and family, landlord-tenant disputes, labor disputes, neighbor disputes, property disputes, Board and shareholder disputes, and other areas where parties are seeking alternative dispute resolution. I work with parties to develop mutual understanding and seek solutions and outcomes that work for everyone involved. I am comfortable working with parties on transactional negotiations that demand a structured and focused approach to the mediation process, as well as mediations where parties are interested in exploring the possibility of healing rifts, repairing harm and seeking deeper reconciliation.
Facilitation
Beginning with an interview and assessment process with participants I work to identify the resources, goals, and underlying issues within a group or organization seeking facilitation support. Working individually or with partners I design, propose and modify a facilitation structure and process designed to best accommodate the goals of a meeting or series of meetings. Using a variety of techniques and approaches Umbrella Dialogue works with open discussions, process-oriented conversations, as well as meetings where actionable plans and outcomes are required. I have provided facilitation support for community meetings, organizations working through particular questions or issues, groups developing vision and mission plans, Board retreats and meetings, and many other settings.
Training and Workshops
After an interview process with members, staff and leadership to assess the goals of the organization and individual members I design interactive trainings to work on communication skills between members and staff as well as clients, and to develop facilitation skills for groups that work in public settings. I have provided trainings for groups of volunteers visiting immigrants in detention, for service providers developing boundary protocols with clients, and for a variety of groups and organizations seeking to develop their communication and conflict resolution skills.
TESTIFY
In the world of cooperatives, social enterprise and social justice, it is necessary to have a skilled mediator that is familiar with non-hierarchical and complex organizational systems. Luckily Tauno Bilsted is an asset in our community. We hired him to help us overcome some challenges we were having with our group dynamics and he was critical in helping us to identify the problems and transform our organizational practices. Because Tauno has a breath of experience in the cooperative, non-profit and social services sectors, he knows how to ask the right questions, listen and guide the process in an intentional way designed for your particular circumstances. To this day, whenever we hit one of those old roadblocks again, we regularly reference the insight Tauno imparted during our mediation session that helped us to change our bad habits and heal.
- Lauren Melodia, General Manager
Milk Not Jails
Tauno’s contribution to Atlas: DIY was invaluable. Not only did he bring his compassion, Spanish fluency, and cultural sensitivity to his work organizing and facilitating a weekly support group for Central and South American young men, most of whom had travelled unaccompanied to and recently arrived in the United States, but he also exuded his natural ability to connect deeply with individuals from a wide range of backgrounds and experiences. Tauno also supported Atlas: DIY by facilitating difficult, yet important conversations amongst the staff, particularly around the areas of interpersonal relationships and boundary setting. We truly cherish him as part of our community.
- Rebecca McBride, Esq.
Director of Legal Services, Atlas: DIY
My organization was having a lot of internal conflict. We had a very contentious election with a lot of name calling and smearing and we did not know what to do to move forward. As a “Hail Mary,” I reached out to the NY Peace Institute at the last minute and to my surprise, Tauno responded and offered his mediation services for our next meeting. Tauno facilitated our meeting, kept order and guided conversation. I found it incredibly helpful for him to be there and it took a lot of weight off my shoulders since I usually lead the meetings.
Sarinya Srisakul
President
United Women Firefighters
Tauno mediated a conflict for us that was over 20 years old. There was a high level of mistrust and hostility between the two sides, after all this time. Tauno successfully navigated us through the process with a final resolution that allows us to move forward with a shared desire for the financial health of both organizations.
Linda Levy
Chief Executive Officer
Lower East Side People’s Federal Credit Union
We reached out to Tauno to help us improve our conflict resolution skills and to equip our team with techniques and strategies for running productive meetings. Tauno spent a good deal of time before our training session listening to staff members concerns, and tailoring a program that met our needs. He is an excellent listener and skilled at drawing out critical issues and asking the kinds of questions that lead to productive discussions. The training program he prepared covered skills and techniques, such as active listening, as well as a review of best practices for meeting facilitation. All the participants felt that they learned a great deal during the training, and one month later continued to incorporate aspects of the training into their work. Most of the participants had years of experience in running community engagement sessions, but benefitted as much as some of the newer members of the team. We hope to work with Tauno again to further explore some of the core issues in our work, and we would highly recommend him to other non-profits or community groups looking to improve their facilitation skills.
Maddalena Polletta
Trust for Public Land
NYC Playgrounds Program
I sought out Tauno after wrestling with a tangle of urgent interpersonal issues that needed immediate action. I was confronting long standing history with a collective. The group has numerous reinforcing issues that have sedimented into an impenetrable morass. Tauno’s facility as an engaged, nonjudgmental listener provided the space for me to parse the sticky issues that had become overwhelming and unmanageable. With tremendous calm and patience, Tauno carefully detangled knot after knot until we could look at the separate issues individually.
Free of judgment and without an agenda, Tauno helped me to distinguish needs from fears - and most importantly - identify the difficult places where the two overlapped /conflicted.
Tauno’s skillful listening and thoughtful questioning created a guided and supported space in which I found clarity and decisiveness. He helped me align my conflicting thoughts and feelings and in the process recover my agency in a fraught situation.
Suzanne Goldenberg,
Artist/Educator
CONTACT
Are you looking for help navigating complicated feelings? Would you like support with important conversations within your organization, with a friend or partner, group member, collaborator, neighbor, employer, colleague, employee, or other person(s) in your life? If you would like to explore how we could work together on the issues that are important to you please be in contact to schedule a confidential and free phone conversation.
Services are available in English or Spanish. Proveemos servicios completos en espanol y ingles.
You can reach out using the form below, by email at builtsteady@gmail.com, or by cellphone at 917 470 6228.
Por favor contacteenos usando el formulario por debajo, en correo electronico en builtsteady@gmail.com, o por celular en 917 470 6228.