Neutrality and Objectivity

Neutrality and Objectivity

By Gary Friedman and Katherine Miller There is no such thing as objectivity, and it is impossible to relate to another human being without the filter of our own subjective experiences. When working with people in conflict, what if we lean into this truth instead of...
Inside Out: The Relationship between Inner and Outer

Inside Out: The Relationship between Inner and Outer

By Gary Friedman As human beings, our experiences shape how we understand not only our own contexts, but those of the people we engage with. Accessing self is an oft ignored central skill in conflict resolution, one that expands our repertoire of how to help people we...
I Knew What Would Happen

I Knew What Would Happen

Catherine Conner and Katherine Miller We all come into a conflict with our own stories, whether we are the parties, a mediator, or another professional. The parties each have their own story about themselves, each other and the conflict. And as they begin, the...
Intimate Partner Violence and Consensual Dispute Resolution

Intimate Partner Violence and Consensual Dispute Resolution

By Antoinette Delruelle, attorney and mediator with the New York Legal Assistance Group. Before becoming a mediator, I represented victims of domestic violence (DV) and intimate partner violence (IPV[1]) in family cases and divorces for nearly two decades for the New...
Looping—Listening to Understand

Looping—Listening to Understand

By Katherine Miller and Melanie Rowen When parties are in conflict, often one of the biggest hurdles for the mediator is to help parties understand the other’s perspective. This includes understanding the matters of importance to each person in their conflict....
Anti-Racism Work is Conflict Work

Anti-Racism Work is Conflict Work

By Catherine Conner, Natalia Lopez-Whitaker, Lacey Wilson While the lenses of race, equity, and culture have opened widely this last year, we do not live in a post-racist society and as conflict resolution professionals, we all exist in spaces that intersect with...
Working with Lawyers in the Room

Working with Lawyers in the Room

By Catherine Conner, Gary Friedman, and Katherine Miller Lawyers learn to see conflict as a battle between two sets of adversaries – “opposing clients” and “opposing lawyers.” Often, they are driven, even if subconsciously, to both guard and aggress for...
Stop AAPI Hate

Stop AAPI Hate

Statement from the Center for Understanding in Conflict We stand in solidarity with Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities and individuals. At the Center for Understanding in Conflict, we recognize that our AAPI members, colleagues, friends, and...