Katherine Johnson-Grief and loss in mediation
This week I travelled to Sydney to attend a workshop presented by Katherine Johnson on “The Impact of Grief and Loss on The Effectiveness of Mediation Outcomes.” Katherine is a psychologist and lawyer and has recently completed her Phd on this topic. Her work is the culmination of 40 years work as a counselor and…
David Mandel-a fresh approach to family violence
I was very fortunate recently to hear David Mandel present about family violence. David is a practitioner, educator and researcher from the USA who has spent his career developing a new way of approaching the issue of family violence. He has highlighted a number of dubious assumptions that have underpinned our attitude to identifying and…
Keeping clients from being stuck in the past
When moving clients from a “stuck” position, I have found that some of the hardest things are to facilitate a sense of progress, and to prevent the client from slipping back into that stuck position between sessions or even in the one conversation. The Solution Focus approach provides some very useful tools to assist with…
Encouraging future focus and a solutions outlook
I am often confronted by clients who are stuck in the awful things that have happened to them in the past, and unable to move beyond these to think of what needs to happen to get to a better future. They can be overwhelmed by the problem, and my skills as a dispute resolver are…
Breakfast Networking Seminar 8 March 2017 7.00 am to 9.00 am
Have you been asked by clients to draft up an agreement for them and wondered which of the various options would be best? Have you worried about complying with the requirements of the legislation, and using the most appropriate language? These and other questions will be answered at our next Breakfast Networking Seminar when experts…
Turning Problem talk into Solutions talk
As professionals working with family disputes most of our influence arises from the conversations that we have with our clients. The way we conduct these conversations has a major impact on the outcome of our work. We aim to engage in skilled communications that result in constructive conversations that enable some progress in achieving what…
Priming for best results in Dispute Resolution
I have recently come across the notion of “priming” clients for dispute resolution. We all have our own style, our own way of approaching conflict and working with others to assist them to resolve their disputes. As we gain experience and confidence, we develop a set of strategies in our tool box, and an innate…
Dealing with difficult clients
Prologue Over the past year or so there have been numerous sessions regarding dealing with difficult people. I have attending presentations as part of ICL training, VLA training, and at the National Mediation and Family Law Conferences. Many of us have learned of the leading features of most of the personality types discussed particularly around…
Making 2017 Great
It was with a great sigh of relief that Christmas Day arrived and with it the summer holidays. The chaos, excitement and pressure of the festive season leaves in its wake the need for rest, revitalization and refocus for 2017. I enjoyed the change of pace, and routine. My favourite day was one when I…
The importance of the right experts in parenting matters
I became involved earlier this year as Independent Children’s Lawyer in a family law matter proceeding through the court system. This was a parenting dispute involving parents and their son aged about 15 months at that time. The right experts were vital in achieving the best outcome for this child. The child had been in…