There is a crisis in the field of mediation and has been for some time, so what's new! Dr Bernie Mayer has a very interesting take on it. It's easy for us as a field to locate our frustration and blame 'the market' for the slow mainstream adoption of mediation and ADR - well how about we hold up the mirror at our own blind spots? 

In the interview Bernie addresses the following:

1. The ten beliefs that conflict resolution practitioners share that undermine our growth.
2. How we need a new brand of professional and what that looks like.
3. Why we need to strengthen the clarity that we share about what's at the heart of what we do.

Click here >> To Watch The Interview and be Inspired

International author, scholar and mediator Dr Bernie Mayer believes that the field of conflict resolution is in crisis and has been for some time. His book, Beyond Neutrality - Confronting the Crisis in Conflict Resolution was first published in 2004 and the book is as current today as it was then.

Think about it, do you feel as a mediator that your conflict resolution skills are yet to have been accepted by the mainstream market? Do you still find yourself having to educate a market that still isn't quite sure what is conflict resolution and how your skills knowledge and expertise can help them to resolve their conflict?

Bernie suggests that many people involved in conflict do not readily seek out the services of a conflict resolution practitioner and instead prefer to do nothing and endure the pain or hire the services of a lawyer to fight their corner. This is just one of many symptoms that supports his assertion that as a field we have some way to go before the balance is tipped in favour of the mediator. You might think I'm painting a bleak picture but all is not lost. As conflict resolution practitioners we have a tremendous amount to offer and  and in this eye-opening interview Bernie talks about some of the main sources of resistance we encounter, some of the key issues holding us back and fundamentally how we can establish ourselves as credible alternatives to mainstream rights-based dispute resolution.

Dr. Mayer is an icon in the world of conflict resolution. With over a quarter century of experience in the field, he was a founding partner at CDR Associates, the internationally recognized mediation and conflict resolution organization, and originally trained as a psychotherapist. He has worked across the globe as a mediator, facilitator, teacher, trainer, dispute systems designer, and program administrator. A true scholar as well as leading practitioner in the field, He earned his Ph.D. in Social Work with an emphasis on conflict resolution.

His Articles Include:
Mediation: 50 Years of Creative Conflict, 51 Family Court Review 34 (2013)
Reflections on the State of Consensus-Based Decision Making in Child Welfare, 47 Family Court Review 10 (2009)
The Next Frontier is Anticipation: Thinking Ahead about Conflict to Help Clients Find Constructive Ways to Engage Issues in Advance, with Christopher Honeyman, Julie Macfarlane, Andrea Schneider, & Jeff Seul, 25 Alternatives to the High Cost of Litigation 99 (2007)
What’s the Use of Theory? Integrating Theory and Research into Training, with Julie Macfarlane, Dispute Resolution Magazine, Fall 2005, at 5
Neutrality and the Role of Conflict Professionals, with Robert M. Ackerman, 4 J. AM. ARB. 213 (2005)
What Theory? How Collaborative Problem-Solving Trainers Use Theory and Research in Training and Teaching, with Julie Macfarlane, 23 Conflict Resolution Quarterly 259 (2005)
DyADS: Encouraging “Dynamic Adaptive Dispute Systems” in the Organized Workplace, with Peter Robinson & Arthur Pearlstein, 10 Harvard Negotiation Law Review 339 (2005)
Conflicting Values: How Neutrals’ Ideology Affects Their Clients, 23 Alternatives to the High Cost of Litigation (2005)
His Books Include:
The Dynamics of Conflict: A Guide to Engagement and Intervention, Jossey-Bass, 2d ed. (2012)
Staying with Conflict: A Strategic Approach to Ongoing Disputes, Jossey-Bass/Wiley (2009)
Beyond Neutrality: Confronting the Crisis in Conflict Resolution, Jossey-Bass/Wiley (2004)
Dynamics of Conflict Resolution: A Practitioner’s Guide, Jossey-Bass/Wiley (2000)