Critical Reflection Archives - Conflict Management Academy

CRITICAL REFLECTION: Ethical marketing of conflict resolution services

Leave a Comment / Critical Reflection / Samantha Hardy

There is very little written directly about marketing ethics in the field of conflict resolution. A notable exception is a paper written by Rachael Field and Neal Wood in 2005 about marketing mediation ethically. They caution that “at its present stage of development in Australia, there continues to be a significant level of rhetoric associated […]

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CRITICAL REFLECTION: Marketing settlement rates

Leave a Comment / Critical Reflection / Samantha Hardy

In our Beyond the Table course, we have an entire module on ethics. But it doesn’t focus on the ethics of practice in the sense of what we do in the mediation or coaching room with the client. Rather, it focuses on the ethics of doing business in the conflict services field. We look at

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CRITICAL REFLECTION: No settlement, no fee in mediation?

Leave a Comment / Critical Reflection / Samantha Hardy

In the past couple of weeks, I have come across a few different mediators in Australia and other countries who have offered, or are currently offering, some version of a contingency fee for their mediation services. This got my attention, and I decided to explore the phenomenon in more detail. I’ve done some research, and

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CRITICAL REFLECTION: Is face-to-face better than online?

Leave a Comment / Critical Reflection / Samantha Hardy

I’ve been asked a few times lately about the benefits of face-to-face versus online work with clients, and also whether it’s better to require clients to have their video cameras turned on when working online. Most people instinctively seem to prefer working with clients in person, and if working online, prefer everyone to have their

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CRITICAL REFLECTION: High Conflict Personalities

1 Comment / Critical Reflection / Samantha Hardy

I recently ran a REAL Masterclass exploring the concept of High Conflict Personalities (HCPs). Many of the participants were looking for some quick fixes and easy tools to use when they came across HCPs in their practice. What they instead discovered was that this desire for a simple solution is in fact one of the

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CRITICAL REFLECTION: Goal Setting

Leave a Comment / Critical Reflection / Samantha Hardy

Goal setting is a standard first step in most coaching models. However, goal setting is not always easy or even useful! In this article I will explore some of the potential downsides of goal setting and consider some possible alternatives. “Knowing how and when to set goals in coaching, knowing how to gauge the client’s readiness to

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CRITICAL REFLECTION: Power balancing

Leave a Comment / Critical Reflection / Samantha Hardy

The Australian National Mediation Accreditation System Practice Standards refer to power in a number of parts: “A mediator must have knowledge [about] the dynamics of power and violence.” (Clause 10.1(a)(i)) “A mediator must be alert to changing balances of power in mediation and manage the mediation accordingly”. (Clause 6.1) “A mediator must have the ability

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CRITICAL REFLECTION: Confidentiality

Leave a Comment / Critical Reflection / Samantha Hardy

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

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CRITICAL REFLECTION: Ground rules

Leave a Comment / Critical Reflection / Samantha Hardy

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

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