Mediation in Ireland: Current Trends, Future Opportunities: Part 2 (1/16/12)
Caitriona Heffernan
This is the second article in a two-part series about mediation in Ireland. This article focuses on the current approach to training and accreditation and also looks toward the future.

Five and a Half Years: A Look Back at Growing a Mediation Practice (1/01/12)
Jim W Hildreth
Jim Hildreth made the decision five and a half years ago to become a mediator. Today he shares his words of advice for those who are entering the field and wanting to establish their practice.

Teaching Conflict Management Courses: Part 1 (11/21/11)
John Wade
Professor John Wade takes an honest look at themes and challenges of teaching dispute resolution courses in this 3-part series. He begins by examining the cycles of change and the worldwide themes.

SCMA's 23rd Annual Conference (10/24/11)
Phyllis Pollack
The conference itself, on Saturday, November 5, 2011 at the Strauss Institute of Dispute Resolution at Pepperdine University’s Law School in Malibu, includes sessions exploring the many different aspects of mediation: international, intercultural, transformative, ombudsman, online and even conflict coaching. By the end of the day, we will have all learned how pervasive mediation can be in our everyday lives.

Use fMRI to Measure the Usefulness of Conflict Resolution Programs? Me, I Don't Think So! (5/23/11)
Stephanie West Allen

Online or Onsite? Teaching Mediation and Conflict Resolution (5/23/11)
Maria Simpson
How can you teach something with no real-time, face-to-face interaction when what you are teaching takes place mostly face-to-face and in real time?

One Attorney's Perspective on Being a New Mediator (4/25/11)
Sheea Sybblis
A new mediator describes the challenges one faces a as new mediator and provides some guidance on how to overcome obstacles.   2 Comments

New Year’s Resolution (1/03/11)
John Crawley
CMP are resolving to get even better at communicating with you about dispute resolution. On that theme here are some additional ideas for how to promote mediation, continuing from December’s 2010 blog and white paper.

Win Friends, Influence People: Providing Conflict Resolution Training To Those Who Don’t Really Want It! (12/13/10)
Brendan Donaghy
In Ireland and the UK, the success of a mediation service often depends on the cooperation of third parties. Police officers, HR professionals, and social housing providers frequently find themselves cast in the role of mediation gatekeepers. Success hinges on these people ‘getting’ the whole idea of mediation.   2 Comments

Stulberg, Joe: Teaching Conflict Resolution - Video (11/28/10)
Joseph Stulberg
Joe Stulberg emphasizes his love of teaching and notes that the teaching methods used in conflict resolution and mediation trainings are innovative techniques within the field of pedagogy.

Yarn, Doug: Teaching Conflict Resolution in Universities - Video (10/28/10)
Doug Yarn
Doug Yarn compares teaching conflict resolution systems in schools compared to universities. He found that there was more harm done than good when they tried to incorporate conflict resolution programs in schools.   1 Comment

Conflict Resolution Education: An Examination of Student Learning Outcomes (10/25/10)
Judy Rashid
Learning should be a transformative activity that integrates academic learning and student development. Often students are expected to know how to handle conflict without being taught the skills; thus, student conduct could be affected. This paper describes quantitative student learning assessment results from an undergraduate course in Conflict Resolution. Results indicate changes in students attitude and learning toward conflict resolution and self-perception.

S.W.A.T Mediators: Just Enough Force (10/19/10)
Larry Bridgesmith
Great mediators, like S.W.A.T. teams, are trained and learn to use "just enough force" to get the job done. Can you learn to use "just enough force?"   1 Comment

Holding Up The Mirror: The Role of Emotion In Achieving Success In Mediation (10/18/10)
Katherine Stoessel
This article looks at what constitutes successful resolution. I believe success is often defined too narrowly resulting in missed opportunities for a thorough exploration of interpersonal issues, the potential for repair, and the expansion of options. Broadening the definition of success also has implications for how we train and develop new mediators.

Zumeta, Zena: Joys and Satisfactions of Training - Video (9/28/10)
Zena Zumeta
Zena Zumeta talks about what has pleased her in terms of the field. She states that training professionals is a joy so they can in turn train and use collaborative techniques with clients and employees.

Stulberg, Joe: Concern: Quality of Trainings - Video (9/28/10)
Joseph Stulberg
Stulberg shares his concern about trainings that are given in too short of time or which are either over-lecturing or doing too much role-play

Wheeler, Terry: View of Trainers as High Quality - Video (9/16/10)
Terry Wheeler
Terry Wheeler explains how his view of trainers and the trainings he's observed are generally good.

Joe Folger: Ideas for Mediation Training - Video (8/20/10)
Joseph P. Folger
Joe Folger feels that an important aspect of mediation training is to impress upon the participants that as mediators they will have influence on the disputants and to make conscious choices about what kind of influence they want to have and to be clear about their ideological principles behind these choices.

Susan Carpenter: Cross Cultural Experiences - Video (8/15/10)
Susan Carpenter
Susan Carpenter shares her experiences as a mediation trainer in other cultures and how she approaches different systems.

How About Making Mediators More Stupid? A Training Agenda (8/08/10)
Michael Jacobs
Much of current mediation training is consciously "additive," in that it puts forward various frameworks, theories and models. This article argues, only partially tongue-in-cheek, that training mediators is fundamentally "subtractive." That in order to be effective, trainee mediators need to unlearn much of what they think they already know. The article refers to this process of unlearning as becoming "more stupid."   4 Comments

Teaching Online Dispute Resolution: Results from a Survey of Students (8/02/10)
Daniel Rainey
Working with student feedback, this article highlights changes in student attitudes toward ODR, and suggests some "best practices" for developing ODR courses.

Zumeta, Zena: Specializing as Positive - Video (7/28/10)
Zena Zumeta
Zena Zumeta explains that although she practices mediation in many different dispute contexts, she thinks there is an advantage of specializing in specific areas.

Larry Fong: Competency and Certification - Video (7/20/10)
Larry Fong
Larry Fong expains that a certification process makes it easier to discern incompetence rather than competence. Competence is a higher level of skill that one aspires to.

New Gorilla Experiment! (7/19/10)
Jeff Thompson
This is absolute gold for mediation and conflict resolution trainers!

Michelle LeBaron: Three Differences in Conducting Trainings - Video (7/11/10)
Michelle LeBaron
Michelle LeBaron talks about three things she does differently in mediation trainings she conducts: not role-playing, deepening capacities instead of teaching skills, and not teaching culture in modules.