Mediating Divorce Agreement

Mediative Strategy

Mediators use the following strategies at different times, including the 3 following basic approaches:

• Interest-Based Option Development
• rapport building
• information gathering
• interests and options
• harvest easy agreements
• package deals
  
• Hypothesis Generation and Testing
• based on outcomes, interests, principles
• importance of rationale
  
• Doubt and Dissonance
• base on rapport
• mutual and individual

INTEREST-BASED OPTION DEVELOPMENT

Interests and Positive Intentions

Options

Selections

• cummulative arrangements
• modular parts
• easy agreements
• exchanges
• package deals
• priorities

Integration

HYPOTHESIS GENERATION AND TESTING

Agreement by Successive Approximation

• Strategic Summarization
• Hypothesis Development
• Hypothesis Testing
• Adjust Hypothesis
• Test Adjusted Hypothesis
• Confirm Agreement
• Integration

DOUBT AND DISSONANCE

Creating a Healthy Tension of the Mind

• Why create dissonance?
• Options?
• Base on rapport
• Assumes people will make the best choice they perceive available
• Individual or mutual?

Examples of mutual:

• two sets of arrangements
• exchange environment
• hypothetical questions
• fact-finding
• if you were in our shoes . . .
• the "parade of horribles"
• the "eight questions"

EMOTIONAL/RELATIONAL MANAGEMENT OPTIONS

• teflon
• relevancy check
• ground rules
• summarization
• normalization
• mutualization
• acknowledgment
• referral

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Online Training Manual

Mediation Strategy
Interests & Options
Hypothesis Testing
Doubt & Dissonance
Emotional/Relational