As my readers know, the private practice of mediation remains unregulated in the United States. Some view this fact with consternation, others with relief.
Meanwhile, in the absence of public licensing of mediators in private practice, private organizations have stepped in to fill the void left by the state, offering private credentialing mechanisms. The giants in the field who have embarked on this path have done so with transparency, inviting the input of practitioners to shape such mechanisms, and with honorable intentions and a concern for ethical practice, with the credibility that reputation has earned them.
There’s one problem. Just as anyone can hold themselves as a mediator, so, too, can any organization hold itself out as a credentialing body.
A colleague recently alerted me to one credentialing scheme that raised some warning flags. One private company has begun offering credentialing for mediators. It’s a business neither of us had heard of. The qualifications it specifies are minimal, setting the bar dismally low.
None of this is reassuring, not to consumers and not to mediators.
PGP Mediation Blog by Phyllis G. PollackIn his bestselling book, Thinking Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, 2011) notes that our brains contain two systems...
By Phyllis PollackJoy Rosenthal's Mediation Blog“Why can’t my real mom and my foster mom get along?” Lakeisha asked, looking up at me. “Why can’t we all live together in a house so...
By Joy RosenthalI’m a late adopter. While the Netflix-produced political drama “House of Cards” premiered back in February of 2013, and four seasons (totaling 52 episodes) have already aired, with a fifth...
By Laurie Israel