This is the first in a series of short articles that I’ll be sharing in the following months to encourage critical reflection about some of the things that are typically taught in standard facilitative mediation training. These ideas have arisen from my work supervising and mentoring new mediators, who often face challenges when putting their […]
CRITICAL REFLECTION: Ground rules Read More »
This is an incredibly powerful book, in both form and substance. I found it incredibly moving, often challenging, and sometimes very confronting. While the book is primarily situated in the USA, the stories and the messages translate into other countries such as Australia where racism, cultural dominance, and institutional oppression are equally problematic. The book’s
Bill Eddy, co-founder of the High Conflict Institute, is well known for his work on managing conflict with what he calls “high conflict people” (HCPs). This book provides a range of process and intervention tips (including scripts for what to say in specific situations) to help mediators work with HCP in a range of conflict
WHAT I’VE BEEN READING: Mediating High Conflict Disputes by Bill Eddy and Michael Lomax Read More »
There has been a renewed interest in the intervention of reality testing in mediation in Australia with the release in December 2022 of research conducted by Lola Akin Ojelabi and Alysoun Boyle, funded by the Mediator Standards Board of Australia. The authors note at the start of the report that the phrase used in the
Can we take the “reality” out of reality testing? Read More »
I read this book like a novel, unable to put it down! The book explores a number of case studies of high conflict, and analyses the conditions that led to the conflict and how the people involved managed to escape from the high conflict trap. One of the case studies involved the “father of mediation”
WHAT I’VE BEEN READING: High Conflict by Amanda Ripley Read More »
I’ve been reading and writing a lot about empathy recently, as part of my Working With Emotions in Conflict course, and more broadly. This book caught my attention and was fascinating reading. I do love an author who challenges some of the things we take for granted, and Bloom certainly does this. The book is
WHAT I’VE BEEN READING: Against Empathy by Paul Bloom Read More »
I’m not a skilled jazz musician. In fact, I played the violin for many years and was part of a youth orchestra – there was no room for improvisation in that setting! However, I have always loved jazz. Jazz is a great metaphor for constructive approaches to conflict. There is also so much we can learn from the
Jazz and conflict resolution Read More »
Ickes is a well known researcher in the area of empathic accuracy – in other words he studies how good people are at identifying others’ feelings. This book provides an easy way to follow and understand the research on this topic, without having to read all the dense academic papers. In many ways, this book
WHAT I’VE BEEN READING: Everyday Mind Reading by William Ickes Read More »
HISTORY OF THE TERM EMPATHY German philosopher Theodor Lipps first introduced the term Einfuhlung (empathy) around 1903 to describe how we should fully appreciate a work of art. His idea was that we should project ourselves into the work and experience it from within, rather than imposing our own frame of reference to interpret the
Unlike many books about conflict resolution which provide advice about what to do in our interactions with others, this book focuses on what we can do within ourselves. It’s a kind of mindfulness meets conflict approach to conflict transformation. The author explains that conflict is not some force outside us, happening to us. Rather it
WHAT I’VE BEEN READING: Dis-Solving Conflict from Within by Henry Yampolsky Read More »
