After reading Jeanette's blog Monday about more mediators in public office, it got me thinking about where else mediators may be helpful--and schools came to mind.

Of course, school psychologists can be extremely helpful in resolving conflict between students, between students and teachers, and between faculty. But, they're often busy helping students with emotional struggles and family dynamics. If mediators or conflict resolution specialists were placed in schools, I can only…

Are you frustrated with the polarization that characterizes our political environment? Do you think that elected officials should set aside their partisan approach and work together to address our nation's challenges?

If that's the case, you will like the work of The "Elect Mediators to Public Office" Project.…

I just read an interesting article in Mediate.com that spoke the issue of blame--and who's fault it is when a marriage or relationship fails.

Although "blame" is not hardly new territory to tackle, the article made me realize that it's human nature to want to assign blame to a conflict. So, as mediators, we're in the business of going AGAINST human nature to some degree--and asking the parties to do that, as well.…

The definition of a "dance" in Websters dictionary is "a series of movements that match the speed and rhythm of a piece of music." Now, why on earth would I write out that in a conflict resolution blog?

The reason is that in mediation, I often see conflicting parties "dance" with one another. What do I mean by that?

They have their own music that defines their…

I'm a cradle Catholic, so I do know the "rules" when it comes to getting a divorce in the eyes of the Catholic Church--basically, you must get the marriage "annulled" by a Priest, or you cannot remarry in the Catholic Church.

I had no idea, however, how other religions viewed religious divorce--until I came upon an article in Mediate.com which discussed a divorce in the Jewish religion. It's called a "get," and many Orthodox Jews are refusing to give them to their wives (in the…

Often ... a real life experience inspires me to write a specific post.

The idea for this blog was born when I was at a meeting with other mediators and I thought ... wow, we might need a mediator.

We had such differing opinions about a project we were working on. I observed my colleagues get pretty passionate about their perspectives and positions. I…

I think we can all agree...asking for forgiveness is pretty hard. In fact, I've only recently learned how to do it (I'm pushing 40, but the way).The other day, my 4 year-old son had a particularly exhausting tantrum over (of all things) a football jersey. I should probably let you know that he will ONLY wear football jerseys, but it's always a struggle deciding which one to wear.

Well,…

Sometimes the future seems so far away ... especially when you have to make a decision today that will affect you for a long time to come.

Take, for example, coming up a parenting/custody plan with your 'soon to be ex-spouse' regarding your child who is only a toddler. It might seem overwhelming to put down on paper, a plan that's supposed to last 15 or 16 years!

But that's what parents can be faced with.

So here's a thought ... that could also apply to just about any…