4 Factors that are reshaping the world of conflict resolution

From my feeds (RSS, Twitter), I’ve recently come across some interesting goings on in the world of conflict/dispute resolution.  And as much of it jives with my own experience and take on resolving conflicts, I thought I’d summarize, with a few examples, what I see as key factors impacting the practice of conflict resolution, going […]

The Magic Relationship Ratio

In relationships, accentuate the positive.  Negative interactions have more clout than positive interactions.  It is not a balanced equation.  You need to have many positive interactions for each negative interaction, if you want a healthy, sustainable relationship! Relationship expert John Gottman sees each of our daily interactions with another person as bids for connection.  By […]

Victoria's Family Collaborative Law Group: Raising the bar on ways to manage family conflict

The Collaborative Family Law Group (CFLG) is a Victoria-based interdisciplinary group of independent professionals, whose mission is to encourage and promote a new process to create positive solutions for people in conflict and families in transition. Indeed that’s why I’m a fan of theirs. Recently I attended, as a guest, one of the regular monthly […]

Musings on peeling the onion and visual thinking

We all have needs. When we’re stuck, dealing with unmet needs can help get things moving forward again. Understanding needs can be like peeling an onion; there are many layers. It may be a bit painful in the peeling, yet good things can happen afterwards, not the least of which is crafting sustainable solutions, as […]

Surprises in mediation can be a good thing

As a mediator or facilitator, its easy to feel you’re in total control of the process.  Don’t hold that thought too tight though!  Sometimes, giving co-ownership of the process, over to the people in conflict, can lead to surprising results.  It doesn’t matter if it was your intention or it happens spontaneously, letting go can […]