Going Under the Conflict

Einstein is credited with saying that “you cannot resolve a conflict at its own level.” The point for us in Einstein’s words is that when it comes to dealing with conflict, we need not only breadth of understanding but depth as well. That means recognizing that...

Working Together

We believe that the best way for mediators to support parties in resolving their dispute is for the parties to work together and make decisions together. We appreciate that for many professionals, this is one of the most striking and questionable aspects of our...

The Power of Understanding

In the traditional approach to resolving conflict, the coin of the realm is the power of coercion. When parties disagree, the exertion of control through the use of threat, persuasion, manipulation, or the imposition of an external authority is considered inevitable,...

The Understanding-Based Approach to Mediation

One of the keys to the power of the Understanding-based model of mediation is that it is a real alternative. Parties have a variety of choices to resolve their dispute, in particular, proceeding through the adversary system either by having their lawyers negotiate for...

The Conflict Trap

Allowing conflict to victimize us and others leaves us trapped in its grasp and diminished by it. Challenging Conflict itself has provided us with tools for understanding it and for opening doors for ourselves, our clients, colleagues, and students that likely would...

Book Review by Joe Epstein

International Academy of Mediators Newsletter (September 2008) BOOK REVIEW: Gary Friedman and Jack Himmelstein, Challenging Conflict: Mediation Through Understanding (American Bar Association 2008) Book review by Joe Epstein (Conflict Resolution Services, Inc.,...

Book Review by Adam Berne

Challenging Conflict, Mediation Through Understanding By Gary Friedman and Jack Himmelstein 2008, American Bar Association Reviewed by Adam J. Berner, Esq., M.A., A.P.M. December 26, 2008 Even for the most avid of readers, there is just so much written out there that...