Blogs
You will find useful articles on conflict-related topics.
CRITICAL REFLECTION: Confidentiality
Mediation is often described as a confidential process, however confidentiality is not straightforward and there are many variations and exceptions to the principle of confidentiality in mediation. These variations may depend on what the mediator and the parties agree on, which model of mediation the mediator offers (e.g. facilitative, transformative, narrative), the substance of the
WHAT I’VE BEEN READING: Change Your Thinking by Sarah Edelman
This book, by Australian clinical psychologist Dr Sarah Edelman, is about how to use cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) techniques to better manage everyday life challenges. While the word “conflict” doesn’t actually appear in the book’s index, it is mentioned explicitly and implicitly throughout the book, as many of our challenges arise from, or create, conflict!
WHAT I’VE BEEN READING: The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel Van Der Kolk
This book was published in 2014, but I revisited it in preparing some work on trauma informed practice in conflict resolution. The book is a powerful and often heart-breaking account of the development of knowledge about trauma, its symptoms and its treatment. While not specifically about how to conduct a trauma informed practice, it provides
Adapting our box – co-designing a conflict resolution process
When mediators and coaches first learn how to mediate or coach, they are often taught a particular process with step-by-step instructions. This gives them a framework to follow as they practice and develop their skills. However, rigidly following those frameworks in the long term is likely to be problematic. Firstly, it may indicate that the practitioner
WHAT I’VE BEEN READING: The Ethical Coaches’ Handbook by Wendy-Ann Smith, Jonathan Passmore, Eve Turner, Yi-Ling Lai and David Clutterbuck
This just released book is an invaluable resource for all kinds of coaches. The contributors include an impressive group of coaching experts from around the world. The phrase in the subtitle “ethical maturity” has been chosen with purpose. Recent ethics coaching research reported that the number of ethical dilemmas experienced by coaches increases with years
WHAT I’VE BEEN READING: Empathic Accuracy by William Ickes
This book is quite old (1997) but much of its content is still relevant today. It is an edited collection written by psychological researchers exploring empathic empathy from the USA (and one author from NZ). Much of the content has been synthesized into Icke’s later book Everyday Mind Reading, but this book is worth going
