November 27, 2014

Hey everyone–Happy Thanksgiving!

This year, my Dad and Step-Mom are driving up from Atlanta, and it looks like a small, family Thanksgiving for us. But, for those of you hitting the road for or hosting a large, extended-family Thanksgiving, I’ve written a few pointers to keep in conflict-free!

Here are a few tips for a drama-free meal:…

During this Thanksgiving week, I would like to give thanks for all the mediation skills I learned that help me not only at the mediation table … but in everyday life too.

This list was derived from a video created by John Ford on the HR Mediator Channel. Thank-you, John, for your insightfulness.

1. Be Your Real Self – To me, this…

I’m not big on acronyms, but I’m particularly fond of this one. That’s because it’s short (so, I can remember it), and it has been extraordinarily helpful to my mediation career (which is always a good thing)!

You’re probably wondering what B.I.F.F. stands for. It stands for Brief, Informative, Friendly, and Firm.

I recently learned about it from a video featuring a Conflict Resolution expert, and I connected with the idea right away, mostly because…

Over the years, I’ve heard a lot about the “right brain” and “left brain,” but, honestly, I can never remember which one is the “emotional” side and which one is the “logical” side.

Well, I just learned something that will make it easier to remember–and something that can be VERY helpful in the therapy room and at the mediation table.

I learned that, when we start to write, we immediately go into our “left brain” even if we had been in our “right…

You’ve heard of ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ or ‘Hotel California’ … but ‘DivorceHotel’? Yup, it’s something new.

Here’s the deal.

For a base price of $5000, a separating couple can check in for the weekend at the Gideon Putnam Hotel in Saratoga Springs, NY (a very nice place) and check out two days later with a notarized final divorce agreement. The price includes two rooms, access to lawyers and all divorce mediation.…

Recently, I had to watch several videos in order to renew my Neutral Registration in Georgia, and I completely underestimated how much I would learn from them.

One thing I learned (which I kind of already knew): People are selfish.

Now, that doesn’t mean we always act on our selfish tendencies, but, alas, we all have them. They’re probably a leftover from our caveman days when, let’s face it, survival was key.…

I think a lot of conflict happens within us – it doesn’t even involve another person. Why do I feel this way?

I was at an exercise class last week and my instructor was talking about how stressed out she is – about, of all things, her May 2015 wedding. She talked about how complicated things were getting and that she was second guessing her decisions about her location, logistics etc.…