August 02, 2010

Clean and Crafty Mediation

CRAFTY:

Curious Responsive Assertive Focused Thoughtful Yes!

The latter being the positive attitude that ensues from Intelligent Optimsm.





Get Crafty - Go well

Emily Knox

Emily Knox
See more at communitymediationintowerhamlets.blogspot.com


Crafty listening


As part of some family mediation training hosted by Newham Conflict & Change we learned from psychotherapist Michael Mallows some techniques and tools for being craftier in our listening i.e. more curious, response, assertive and focussed in order to understand what is in the person's mind and to facilitate clear communication. Crafty listening can be used both in a family mediation or counselling setting, community mediation or on a personal level to get the most out of communication exchanges.

I particularly liked the 'clean language' work that we did, which uses questions that are free from the questioners own metaphors and assumptions. There's an interesting gallery tour that you can do on the Clean Language website that gives more information on this.

I tried out a couple of the clean language questions during a recent workplace mediation, using for example, when a party said she thought people thought they were better than her 'What kind of better is that better?' to understand more fully what she meant and to then explore what change she wanted to see. It worked well in increasing the communication flow. Interested to know if anyone else uses clean language in your mediation?

Read more at communitymediationintowerhamlets.blogspot.com

Emily Knox


"I've been involved with Tower Hamlets Mediation Service since 2003 as a volunteer so it's very exciting for me to take this one step further by becoming the new Community Mediation Manager. Previously I worked in international conflict response for a large humanitarian aid agency, and I have also in the past worked for a conflict resolution charity based in Bethnal Green. My years as a volunteer mediator with Tower Hamlets Mediation Service have shown me the amazing change that mediation can make to people's lives thanks to our dedicated team of volunteer mediators. My aim is to make mediation accessable to all in the borough so that conflict can be dealt with in a positive way."
Read more at communitymediationintowerhamlets.blogspot.com
 

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