"What's Happening in Conflict Resolution" is a weekly round up of the all the ADR news, jobs, events and more. Check it out each week and view past versions [HERE].

The month of April is "Crisis Negotiation Month" at ADRhub.com.  It is a collaboration…

It's so interesting. When I start a mediation, I often ask parties to visualize the future - asking them to think beyond their conflict and imagine what things could be like.

They tell me wonderful things like how it would feel to get beyond where they are, what they want for their children, how they want to save money by avoiding long, drawn out legal battles and much more.

Then, we start the mediation and I am sometimes amazed at how quickly they forget what they have said.…

NDR, ADR and CONF people:

If you're still into growing in the area of negotiation, you're going to want to read this article by John Lande of the University of Missouri School of Law. It's long, but you'll figure out which parts to read once you start. You'll be glad you read it.

You can download the full-text article here: …

I just read a really interesting article about mediation "styles." You know the ones: facilitative, evaluative, and transformative.

Me? I was trained in facilitative mediation, but have always wondered about the others because, frankly, I've never been one to stick to one "theory" or "style." I prefer to mix-and-match theories, in mediation and in therapy--but, I always worry doing so will make me appear sloppy and incompetent.…

In his wonderful poem “Sometimes” (from Everything is Waiting for You, 2007, Many Rivers Press), David Whyte refers to questions that “have no right to go away”. I really like that statement and it touched a chord in me. So, considering my fascination with the art of inquiry I thought about using Whyte’s phrase as the title and premise of this week’s blog.

It seems that when we are in interpersonal conflict we ask ourselves many things about what is going on between the other person…

The Texas Conflict Coach® Blog Talk Radio program announces the following episodes starting

in the month of  April, held every Tuesday night from 5:00-5:30 pm PST/7:00-7:30 pm CST/8:00-8:30 pm EST.

"Starting with our April 8th program, you will learn about various aspects of Workplace Bullying & Harassment."

To participate, go to the designated link for each program or call-in live at 347-324-3591.

April 1st…

Two weekends ago, I attended a two day workshop entitled "Relationship Bootcamp". In case anyone was wondering what mediators do for fun on the weekends, now you know! This intensive retreat taught relational living as the ultimate goal for all human beings. That we seek connection as a fundamental aspect of our nature. We all want intimacy, but not many of us come by it very easily.…

“You leave me with no choice…”

“What else could I have done?”

“There was nothing else I could do.”

“I couldn’t do that.”

You know what?  We always have choices.

We can do this or that.  We can agree or disagree.  We can go with an idea or we can come up with any number of reasons why we could not, but it all boils down to choice.

When we are in conflict situations we can feel a heightened need to defend our position and the…

Family businesses move through many transitions as they grow from Founders to much larger family enterprise systems. The components of this shift include among others: a range of family dynamics issues that can de-rail business or families, clarifying roles, committing to various business competencies, reaching agreements about reasonable expectations, building solid governance structures and…

I have just returned from three days in British Columbia (Victoria and Vancouver) spent talking about the SRL Phenomenon – the numbers, its impact, and what kinds of change are needed to even begin to address the crisis in justice services.

I spoke with government officers and staff, lawyers, law students, judges and mediators. I was ably assisted in communicating the urgency of the problem by three local SRLs from the NSRLP Speakers Bank (thank you to Jennifer…

"What's Happening in Conflict Resolution" is a weekly round up of the all the ADR news, jobs, events and more. Check it out each week and view past versions [HERE].…

Negotiation / conflict management teacher?

Here's a simulation for you (complete with teacher's guide) - conducted by students through email:…

I don't get to watch the news much anymore ... but when I saw this story I just had to write about it.

The Buddy Bench is a wonderful program that schools all across the country are embracing and kids are part of the driving force in making it happen.

How does it work?

When a child feels alone or excluded…

(First published in conflictconversations.org)

When Tammy Lenski posted on her blog yesterday the Chinese…

The following are statistics about the use of mediation, its impact on crisis management and long-term tension reduction, and the effectiveness of various mediation styles and organizations. This is by no means a literature review but just a few numbers I found interesting.

Please feel free to respond by sharing the statistics you’ve found in your research, of course including appropriate references so sources can be verified...…

Having elementary-school-aged children is a very precarious time for a marriage--or so I learned during graduate school. I remember having an infant at the time and wondering--will my husband and I break-up when they hit school-age?

Not sure if the book I read gave an in-depth reason for this trend, but it may have something to do with the rigors of child-rearing...or maybe the Seven-Year-Itch that many couples encounter, which happens to coincide with this time in many couples'…

We know that conflict has the potential for bringing out negativity in us when we are in dispute with another person. What form and shape that takes varies, of course, and depends in large part on our individual ways of coping, the circumstances, who the other person is, and the history with her or him. Negativity that erupts in any case seems to increase as we become more and more entrenched and the certainty about our rightness and the other person’s wrongness prevails. We may…

The Texas Conflict Coach radio program's mission is to raise awareness and educate the general public and our communities about conflict resolution and peace building. In doing so, we are collaborating with Mediation Station in Toronto, Canada to encourage deeper understanding through meaningful talk and deeper…

In my latest Canadian HR Law blog post, I provided some tips on how parties should approach mediation. These are based on my experience as counsel and as a mediator. They include:

1. Focus on the future, not the past
2. Let reason, not emotion, rule
3. Take time to assess your BATNA
4. Don't overestime the value of having your 'day in court'
5. Come with authority to settle, and with flexibility
6. Take advantage of the opportunity to settle – but…

We know that the experience of self-representation in our justice system is remarkably consistent.

It takes enormous work and effort.

It is a frustrating, stressful and often an interminably long experience.

There are some good days – and many bad days.

And even those few whose good days outnumber their bad days acknowledge the very same work, effort, frustration and stress.…