Reasons why mediation could fail

Unfortunately, there is no magic formula to guarantee successful resolution of workplace conflict through mediation or any other conflict management tool. Anna Shields, director at Consensio, sets out some realistic expectations for mediation users and sponsors by highlighting the common reasons why mediation might not work.

Read Anna Shields' article in Personnel Today

Mediation Myths and Misunderstandings That May Affect Your Decisions in Divorce

The decision to divorce is probably one of the most important -- and most difficult -- decisions one will make during the course of a marriage. As an alternative to the traditional method of divorce conducted in the courtroom, mediation offers an opportunity for a couple to mitigate their financial damages customarily associated with divorce proceedings. So, if mediation offers so many benefits, why doesn't everyone do it? The answer lies in some of the myths and misunderstandings of this methodology.

Read Diane Danois' article in the Huffington Post.

The Gray Divorce

Sadly, the divorce rate among couples over 50 has skyrocketed from one in ten couples in 1990 to one in four today.  Interestingly, two thirds of the time it is the wife asking for the "gray divorce." Many sociologists are trying to explain why middle aged women are heading for the marriage exit and they have come up with several interesting hypothesis.

Read Denise Tamir's posting on Mediate.com

Mediation Can Help Parents Learn to Communicate

"Dozens of scientists have shown that the quality of parent-child relationships and the conflict between parents – married or divorced–are the most important predictors of psychological problems in children. When parents divorce, it can be traumatic on children; however, if parents can find a way to co-parent in a healthy way, keeping their children out of the middle and out of any conflict can prove to contribute positively to the child’s physical, emotional and mental well-being. Mediation tends to be a less adversarial approach to divorce than litigating. As such, children of divorced couples often fair better if the divorce was managed through mediation"

Read Josh Hoch's post on the MWI Divorce Mediation Blog

Marriage Counselor Or Mediator?

"Conventional wisdom holds that marriage counselors are in the business of fixing relationships, while mediators are in the business of dismantling them. As a mediator by profession and a hopeless romantic by birth, that sounds pretty dreary, so I look at it a bit differently. Instead of simply ripping apart relationships, the role of a mediator is one of facilitating the dissolution of a marriage by carefully redefining the couple as individuals, and gently extricating their financial and emotional lives so that they can move forward as two separate people. The mediator works closely with both individuals to identify problems and find creative solutions without resorting to litigation. In contrast, marriage counselors are in the business of improving relationships"

Read Diane L. Danois article in the Huffington Post.