BACH2014/Art of mediation
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The Art of Mediation
Roses[edit]
- Intimate understanding of a situation and the healing happening
- You can see possible solutions, the middle ground that's better than each of the two sides
- Bringing people together in a place where everyone feels heard, safe, respected
- Face-saving modalities
- Asking questions and ensuring people are heard
- Mirroring: deeper understanding and empathy
Thorns[edit]
- Taxing, labor-intensive
- Getting stuck in unproductive emotional states
- Social anxiety
- Resistance, people refusing to take responsibility for their own shit
- People being repetitive
- Mirroring: psychic burden
- Drawing the line between facilitation and mediation (eg if more than two parties are involved)
- The thought of engaging in it can be daunting
Suggestions[edit]
- Let online conflicts sit for 24 hours before attempting to mediate
- Some conflicts can be resolved so simply with a random coin flip
- Don't take things personally
- Mediate out of band (offline)
- Pre-empt future possible conflict by approaching seeming adversaries and asking if they want to join a conversation
- "Criticize in private, praise in public"
- Walls are like a blanket
- You want to leave everyone feeling good and wanting more
