Guest blogger, John Peter Weldon, describes efforts in Canada to change the approach that employers use to deal with workplace bullying.  Interest is growing in the idea of offering parties the opportunity to experience transformative mediation, rather than the less effective, traditional, adversarial approach.  You can read the article here.

There's a lot of confusion out there about transformative mediation.  For example, it's often stated that the goal of transformative mediation is to improve relationships.  While that is a common positive side effect of transformative mediation, it's not the mediator's goal.  My latest blog entry, available here, contains a brief description of where the…

Professor Rachel Monaco-Wilcox of Mount Mary University reviewed Transformative Mediation:  A Sourcebook and found that it was accessible to non-mediators and helpful to anyone interested in conflict.  You can read her whole review in my latest blog entry here.

In this blog post, I describe a conflict between me and my nephew.  It turns out everyone can slip into the vicious cycle of weakness and self-absorption.

In this blog entry, I make my argument that mediation, as most often conducted in litigated cases, is far less helpful to the disputants than it could be.  I go so far as to suggest that what holds mediation back from its potential is the too-cozy relationship between mediators and the lawyers who refer them cases.

In this blog entry, mediators from Europe and the USA talk about how the transformative approach has made them calmer, but more inspired.

For this blog entry, I corresponded with transformative mediators from the USA and Europe, and asked them what surprised them most about their work.  Here's what they said.

In the latest blog post of the Institute for the Study of Conflict Transformation, transformative mediators describe how their has affected them personally.  You can read the whole post here.

In this blog entry , read about how Judge Bruce Peterson of Minneapolis believes that the divorces should not be subjected to court.  He says that court is about coercion and the threat of coercion.  And he says that transformative mediation might be an answer.

The same principles that guide transformative mediation are now being applied to ethnic and political conflict.  Read the full article here.

In my latest blog entry, I describe a discussion I have frequently with litigators.  Many litigators are accustomed to an approach to mediation characterized by a mediator who evaluates the case - and by a process that doesn't value direct communication.  Here's the article that explains why transformative mediation is the way to go when it's all about money.

My latest blog entry, written by guests, Dusty and Vicki Rhoades, describes how transformative mediation has made a big impact in Maryland.  And they dispel some common misconceptions about the transformative approach.

In this post guest blogger, Arnold Zeman, tells a story of two mediation clients who shifted toward working together much more effectively.  Arnold says it wasn't magic.  

In my latest blog entry, I list my favorite videos available online about transformative mediation. Follow this link to my latest blog entry.

In this blog entry I discuss how I heard a retired judge / mediator say that he likes to let the parties in a probate dispute vent.  I describe why, for me, though I certainly support parties in expressing anger if they like, I don't look at that as "letting" them "vent".

If you assume that a mediator's job is to guide parties toward an agreement, it makes sense to first confirm that the parties are capable of standing up for themselves.  My latest blog entry explains why, especially in the transformative model, a mediator has no business screening someone out due to lack of capacity.

Joe Folger was the guest blogger this week!  He writes about the application of transformative conflict theory to our own conflicts.  Read the full article here.

Compared to the settlement conferencing often done in litigated cases, transformative mediation reminds people of therapy.  Read my latest blog post for a discussion of how transformative mediation isn't therapy but is therapeutic.

Many mediators say they use the "toolbox" method.  That is, they do "whatever works." At first blush, this sounds sensible.  Read the full article for a discussion of why it might not be such a good way to go. 

Erik Cleven has been studying interethnic conflict all over the world.  Here's a blog entry describing his latest article. Read the blog here