(Originally posted in Dialogic Mediation Services)

It's important in the mediation process, irrespective of the model, for the mediator to explain how she works in an opening statement. There are two reasons for this: participants have a right to know what to expect from the mediator and how the process will unfold; and, participants have a right to make an informed decision on whether the process will be helpful to…

(Originally published by the Institute for the Study of Conflict Transformation on June 20, 2012 under the title, Letting Clients Take Responsibility)

Recently, I mediated with a young couple where neither of the two had completed high school. As a transformative practitioner, I tried to ensure that I supported, rather than…

(originally published on dialogicmediation.com)

Last night on television's
 Saturday Night Live, Montreal-based rock band
 Arcade Fire wore the Quebec student movement's emblematic red squares and, in doing so, focused attention on the
 …

(first published in dialogicmediation.com)

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="620"] Herzog, Paris Café, 1959, inkjet print. Collection of the artist, Courtesy of Equinox Gallery (Globe and Mail, online)[/caption]

The starting point for the transformative model of mediation is…

(First published on dialogicmediation.com)

One of the strong arguments that advocate the use of mediation is tied to the public policy issue of access to justice.  Simply stated, many cases on the court docket can be dealt with more efficiently in mediation, thereby freeing up the justice system to deal with other cases, and easing bottle-necks and backlogs in the administration of justice.  This has led many…

The McGurk Effect: "The visual information a person gets from seeing a person speak changes the way they hear the sound."  The below demonstrates this illusion with the sound  'ba' that becomes heard as 'fa' when the movement of the lips is changed:

This phenomenon has implications for social…

[originally published on dialogicmediation.com]

A couple of weeks back, Dan Simon drew a comparison on his new transformative mediation blog between the thinking of Carl Rogers, the founder of…

(originally published in dialogicmediaton.com)

I'm just back from taking part as a role play coach in the three-day "Basic  Mediation Training - The Transformative Approach to Mediation".

The training was co-led by Winnie Backlund and Basia Solarz, and was held with…

(originally published at dialogicmediation.com)

Distinguished educator and mediator, Tammy Lenski, is celebrating the tenth anniversary of her blog, Conflict Zen.  As part of that celebration, she wants to highlight some of her favourite…

(Originally published in dialogicmediation.com)

In responding to a court application for divorce of a same-sex couple married in Canada, a federal government lawyer has taken the position:

1. Non-resident couples who marry in Canada "must live in the…

(First published in dialogicmediation.com)

As Rick Weiler notes in a December 22 post on the Kluwer Mediation Blog, the issue of mediation confidentiality "arises before the Courts from time to time and we are fortunate to have the recent,…

First published in dialogicmediation.com

In transformative mediation circles, we often speak of 'listening like a cow'.  (See my two previous posts on this quality of attention here and here.)  In brief, this simile is…

Originally published in dialogicmediation.com on October 31, 2011:

John Peter Weldon is a Quebec-based Certified Transformative Mediator™, lawyer, and trainer for the Continuing Legal Education Service of the Quebec Bar (Le Barreau du Québec).  He recently announced the creation of the Réseau pour une approche…

(originally published on http://dialogicmediation.com)

I'm pleased to note that mediate.com has published my review of the latest addition to the transformative mediation literature, Transformative Mediation - A Sourcebook  Resources for Conflict Intervention Practitioners and…