We often hear about supply and demand in a variety of different contexts. Lately there has been more and more talk in the mediation world about the need and demand for mediation — and how different they seem to be. It’s easy to see that the need for mediation as an efficient and effective means […]
Ethics in Mediation — Community Mediation, Inc. Basic Mediation Training
I am pleased to be teaching Ethics in Mediation next week, as part of Community Mediation, Inc.’s Basic Mediation Training. The 40 Hour Basic Mediation training runs from June 2 to June 6, 2014, at Community Mediation’s offices in Hamden, CT. Community Mediation, Inc., was established in 1980 and serves the Greater New Haven area. […]
Do-it-yourself mediator
I was struck last week at the panel presentation on conflict by how hungry folks can be for tips on how to handle conflict on our own with techniques that mediators use. When a mediator is at work, it’s an essential part of the process that the person is neutral and not a party to […]
Confidentiality: A Hallmark of Mediation
Last week, I needed to visit a state courthouse — somewhere I rarely see now that I am engaged solely in alternative dispute resolution. As I left, I happened to walk out behind a well-dressed, middle-aged woman striding out the door. Behind me was a well-dressed, middle-aged man. As soon as we left the building, […]
The Debt Ceiling Negotiatons From This Mediator’s Perspective — Part II
Many have wondered aloud how a mediator would work with the parties to the debt ceiling negotiations. Last time, I wrote about how the Speaker of the House lacked “authority” in his negotiations with the President. That’s just one of the hurdles that we have seen in attempts to resolve the debt ceiling dispute — […]
The Debt Ceiling Negotiatons From This Mediator’s Perspective — Part I
Obviously much has been said and written about the debt ceiling negotiations, including how dysfunctional they are. More than one public commentator has wondered aloud about how a skilled mediator would deal with this mess. I won’t get into the policies or the discussion about why we are having this crisis instead some sensible agreement […]
Mediation and Independence
Today is July 4, Independence Day, and my thoughts turn to the relationship between mediation and independence. No, I don’t believe that mediation would have resolved the dispute between England and the Colonies. Nor does it seem likely that mediators could have prevented the Revolutionary War with a mediated resolution. Conflict resolution does have its […]
Mediation: it’s about the neutrality
At the conference presented last week by the New England Chapter of the Association for Conflict Resolution (NE-ACR), several speakers discussed theories about why we think and do the things that we think and do. Some ideas seemed almost obvious and others were counter-intuitive. Most, if not all, of these presentations were made in the […]
The Uneven Pace of Mediation
A quote on Friday from a participant in the NFL court-ordered mediation process in Minneapolis, Minnesota reminded me of a point I was made on Thursday in a University of New Haven classroom in Connecticut. According to today’s New York Times, Hall of Famer Carl Eller, who is representing retired NFL players in the dispute, […]
Today is Reconciliation Day
Each year, April 2 is recognized as Reconciliation Day. The idea was launched by Ann Landers, the late advice columnist, who saw that mending fences — even if those fences had been broken for a long time — could be a good thing for those involved. Even a long-standing conflict can be resolved, directly or […]
