Kat Kirkpatrick Email & Phone Number

I am an elder mediator who works online and in-person with seniors and their families. I help families talk through problems and create action plans for issues that affect elders and their families. Typical issues may include giving up driving, needing in-home care, moving to assisted living, making health care decisions, meeting end of life needs, or discussing a will. My journey started as a challenge course facilitator using interactive games to teach life skills and team building to youth at risk, blind adults, and corporate groups. Later I used those games-based teaching styles when I co-taught a course called Playing With Conflict at PSU. I have been a trainer and facilitator since the 1990's, and a mediator and conflict coach since I earned a masters degree in Conflict Resolution at Portland State University in 2007. I volunteered for 10 years as the grievance administrator at Oregon Country Fair, a large yearly arts and music festival. I created a twice yearly collection of workshops for fair volunteers called the Conflict Response Skill-Building Retreat which is now being continued by Eugene's Center for Dialogue and Resolution. I have practiced neighbor to neighbor mediation, workplace mediation, foreclosure avoidance, and small claims court mediation. I began to focus my mediation practice on working with elders and their families after working with many of the same typically expected elder issues in my extended family. The family conversations and decisions that need to happen are difficult even in the best of circumstances. I feel good about my work guiding families as they navigate the elder journey by helping them create workable action plans while decreasing unnecessary drama. I know from personal experience what a big difference that kind of support can be for a family.

Listed skills include Teaching, Community Outreach, Public Speaking, Conflict Resolution, and 16 others.