Family Matters Video on Mediation in Family Law- Thanks, Justice Brownstone!

Distance Family Mediation

Online Family Mediation from Bryan Hanson on Vimeo.

Andrew Schepard's Interview on Challenges Within Family Mediation- Excellent!

Embrace the Therapeutic Justice Idea into Family Law Proceedings?

Jurisdictions have already begun to embrace some of the ideals of applying the principles of Therapeutic Justice into Family Law proceedings, whether they know it or not; whether they label it as such or not.

The factors are slipping their way into the field and I could not be more thrilled... The idea is about finding ways to heal our families, our communities... and so it goes...

1000 Awesome Things: The Trailer and the Newly Published Book!

CoParenting Gaff Results in Losing 3 Year old for 2 Days: "I Thought He Was With You!"

Little Dion had finished his 3rd Birthday Party at the local Ceasarland Pizza place and was found wandering around the arcade by himself, wandering aimlessly... This was Saturday at around 8 p.m. He did not say his name or who dropped him off or who held the party or anything except "pizza" and "ice cream." On Monday afternoon, the pizza joint's staff called the police and said that the parents and grandmother were wondering if they had seen this 3 year old. Each of the parents (who lived in separate households... or maybe separate planets?) thought that Dion had gone home after the party with the other parent or with the grandmother. No one communicated with the other parent, nor, presumably with the grandmother (who I will bet gets blamed in the end) about how Dion liked his party, his pizza or his ice cream. The little boy is still in protective custody. Does this underscore the importance of communicating as coparents, even if you don't necessarily "like" each other? Great job, pizza joint employees! Final Score: Pizza joint employees, 10 - Parents of Dion, 0. 

Australia and the UK Are Mediatorious!

Truly enjoying reading about the massive overhauls "goin' on" in Australia Family Court and the new report out from the UK (that includes Wales!) about the changes which they are putting children's needs front and center!

I would challenge every one of us to read Jennifer McIntosh's article about the research about both Child Focused Mediation and Child Inclusive Mediation- Fantastic!

Lessons from my ABA Dispute Resolution membership!

Okay, so sometimes engaging in the "Difficult Dialogues" can make some of us feel "dumped on"... There are those days, for me, at least... But, I have to tell you that the "win" of watching people shift and reengage in another configuration  (think mobile suspended over baby's crib) is an amazingly satisfying moment. The glow is worth every minute...

Working with Intractable Conflict

Reading Bernie Mayer's new book about working with intractable conflict. His premise is that we can overly focus on conflict "resolution" and miss out on how to effectively deal with these other types of conflict... slow to resolve or seemingly "never ending.

Mediation is More Than "Making Peace."

Mediation and Conflict Management are not for wimps. The people who engage in this practice are highly devoted to helping people challenge and explore the damage created from unintentional harm.

These professionals are highly trained and respectful of the importance of listening well, honoring differences and resistance of being drawn into useless escalation of conflict. That does not mean this is a passive process. It is, actually, the opposite. These roles draw on our analytic skills, our ability to listen deeply and authentically conduct ourselves in a dialogue which often make most regular people very "uncomfortable." Tolerate the tension and hang out with the knots...

Welcome to the Updated Newest Site: "California-Mediation"

Welcome to the Newest "California-Mediation" Blog, which will be dedicated exclusively to articles on mediation practices of all kinds: custody, elder, family, community...