How to Become a Certified Mediator: Styles and Training
Conflict happens every day. It shows up in boardrooms, community centers, and courtrooms around the world. Helping people navigate these disagreements is an incredibly rewarding experience. When you guide two parties toward a mutual understanding, you are doing important work that saves time, reduces stress, and preserves relationships. If you want to step into this […]
Professional Mediation Training Online: Your Complete Guide
Professional Mediation Training Online: Your Complete Guide If you’ve been considering a career in dispute resolution, or you’re an experienced practitioner ready to take your skills to the next level, finding the right mediation training course matters more than most people realize. The quality of your training shapes not just what you know, but how […]
Understanding Facilitative and Evaluative Mediation: How Experienced Mediators Really Practice
For years, mediation theory has framed facilitative and evaluative mediation approaches as distinct, and often opposing, models. Mediation training programs, textbooks, and mediator biographies frequently present these approaches as choices, as though mediators must align themselves with one camp or the other. Facilitative and transformative mediation are often discussed in the context of distinct styles, […]
The Expanding Role of Mediation: Making a Bigger Dent in the Universe
When I first wrote about “A Dent in the Universe” in July 2019, mediation stood on the edge of a historic moment: the signing of what would soon become the Singapore Convention. At the time, the world sensed the promise of mediation to reshape conflict resolution across borders. Six years later, that promise is no […]
Ego Management in Mediation: Strategies for 2025
Why Does Ego Management in Mediation Matter? Ego management in mediation involves intentionally recognizing, regulating, and redirecting ego-driven behaviors during dispute resolution. One of the most powerful forces in any mediation room, ego is often tied to issues of self esteem. It shows up in clients who feel their reputation is on the line, in […]
My Wishes to Mediation Students in Rwanda and all Aspiring Mediators
Rwanda, the verdant country of a thousand hills, stands as a stark reminder of what happens when we allow hatred to triumph over humanity. While best known for its genocidal past, yet striving not to be defined by it, Rwanda leads the African continent in implementing a broad policy of conflict resolution throughout its society. […]
Certified mediator? The Sparrow and the Peacock
Having taught mediation skills for over twenty-five years and, more recently, having developed an online mediation training curriculum, it’s only natural that I stand as a zealous proponent of mediation training. It follows then, that I am increasingly alarmed by the number of mediators entering the profession who have little or no training, and even […]
Artificial Intelligence in Mediation: What the Future Holds for Mediators
Artificial intelligence for helping mediate disputes has begun to gain traction. Although it might not yet be commonplace, it is on its way to playing a pivotal role in conflict resolution, providing mediators with tools and functionalities that streamline the mediation process, offer data-driven insights, and help manage communications and negotiations. The use of Artificial […]
What is the Difference Between Mediation and Arbitration?
Arbitration and mediation share a common lineage as alternatives to the traditional legal system of court and jury trials. Known as different forms of alternative dispute resolution (ADR), they are both intended to offer less expensive, more efficient outside-of-courtroom approaches to resolving disputes than afforded by more formal litigation. Yet there, the similarities end. The […]
Average Settlement Offers During Mediation
What’s Wrong with Asking About Average Settlement Offers During Mediation? I was asked by a journalist recently about the average settlement offers in mediation. And while his search for understanding is laudable, the question itself is misguided. Mediation, a form of alternative dispute resolution, is best defined as a facilitated negotiation. At its core, it […]