New First Step Available for Seniors Wanting to Resolve Conflict

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by Breyer Patterson March 2008

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Seniors face a daunting array of conflict situations. Seniors need to deal with an ever-expanding set of service providers: health, insurance, facilities, and financial services to name a few, and then there are the ongoing family and estate issues. Life is ever more complex and confusing with increased opportunities for conflict. Also confusing is that seniors understand that lawyers and courts rarely hold effective (or affordable) answers to everyday conflicts. Against this challenging backdrop, a new option for constructively addressing conflict has emerged: individual “conflict consultation.”

Specifically, consider “InstantAssist” services are now available from the well-established web site “Mediate.com.” InstantAssist is the brainchild of long-time Mediate.com CEO Jim Melamed. A lawyer and mediator since 1983, Melamed founded Mediate.com in 1996 and sees the offering of individual conflict consulting as a natural progression. “Everything used to be taken to the courts until mediation came along and demonstrated that constructive conflict resolution does work. In addition to being available in the courts, mediation is also broadly available in the private sector. With individual conflict consultation available early and on an ongoing basis, people can now actively seek constructive (and effective) conflict resolution without any formal court or mediation process. In addition to providing conflict advice, InstantAssist consultants will, in appropriate situations, act as “emissaries” for those in conflict.

“As much as I love mediation,” Melamed says, “mediation participants still need to agree to take part in a same mediation process before anything beneficial happens, so, bottom-line, we need additional answers.” Melamed thinks we need “accessible on-ramps to constructive conflict resolution” that do not require any formal filing nor any specific behavior from the other side. Melamed notes that the “the legal model” for resolving disputes in an adversarial way is just one model for thinking about what is the best way to deal with a conflict. Melamed continues: “If you are not going to file a lawsuit, then the legal model has limited, if any, application. We need additional approaches that actually improve conflict situations. This is what InstantAssist.com is all about, bringing constructive conflict resolution to individuals at the earliest possible time. We go to the heart of the matter and ask, how can we figure this out in a most capable and constructive way?”

InstantAssist conflict consultation thus offers seniors an affordable and constructive first step to improve conflict situations. Immediate and scheduled appointments, as well as gift certificates, are available. For full information, see www.InstantAssist.com.

Biography

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Breyer is the lead InstantAssist Administrator.  Breyer has been mediating since 1997, focusing on family, business, landlord-tenant, elder and family matters. Breyer is also a mediation trainer with the University of Oregon law school and a facilitator at Lane Community College, both in Eugene, OR.

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Website: www.instantassist.com

Additional articles by Breyer Patterson

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