Dear Friends and Neighbors,
I hope you are well. I wanted to let you know and to also ask that you pass along to our Schenley Road and Evergreen neighbors the following.
After more than twenty years at our location on Schenley Road, Baltimore Mediation is relocating. It has been two very good decades. We are sad to go and wish we did not have to, but you may be aware that our 17 year old son, Archer, on a
Millennials get a bad rap. Labelling them the “me” generation, the stereotype is that millennials are selfish, obsessed with material possessions, and unwilling to expend attention on something that lasts longer than a snapchat. The anti-millennial fire was stoked recently by a poll sponsored by the Atlantic Magazine and the Aspen Institute, which found empirically that only 22% of millennials found helping others to be a top priority, while 46% said that money was crucial to the attainment of the
Baltimore Mediation recently had an opportunity to conduct a workshop on mediator ethics to
the Baltimore City Circuit Court. We know how important it is for mediators to examine their
orientation to practice and we always facilitate discussion of the attendant issues in our
certificated 40-hour trainings. Baltimore Mediation believes that an ethical mediator must
examine ethical questions and grapple with them.
In training, when Louise Phipps Senft asked the question “What makes you a good mediator?”
The responses were varied. A few examples: “I’m
When you think about the next generations– your children, children’s children, and what you want to pass on to them, what comes to mind? It’s a cocktail of things – wonderful memories, wealth, access to opportunities, close rapport with siblings, and an appreciation of the relationships and communities that have come to shape them. We all hope to get to the point where we think about those next generations and can be proactive in helping them.
How are
Whatever your perspective on the unrest in Baltimore and whatever you believe the root causes are, most can agree that something went wrong in the interaction between students and police last Monday. Here at Baltimore Mediation, we intensely focus on the interaction between people in conflict. We believe that if we can help change the interaction, fostering quality dialogue, breaking patterns of behavior and reactivity that escalate conflict, then people can cooperate to create lasting change. It involves using power
The unrest in Baltimore is a case study of conflict and inspires many passionate perspectives. As professionals in the field of conflict transformation for over 21 years, we want to understand what others in the field are saying about the riots. In an email earlier this week, a local educator stated their distress about the “lack of credible, local voices to serve as advocates for unrelenting constructive protest.”
We want to look harder at the idea that what we
Dusty Rhoades
Baltimore Mediation, Community Mediation Centers of St. Mary’s & Calvert County
An excerpt from the Institute for the Study of Conflict Transformation, Inc.’s Blog
My wife and I started using movie and TV clips in mediation training after participating in a workshop facilitated by Baruch Bush and Joe Folger called Rethinking Conflict in 2008. We were so inspired by this teaching and learning tool that we picked up the ball and ran with it.
We show a clip from a
The approach our mediators practice here at Baltimore Mediation, referred to as “transformative,” seeks to empower the parties involved by focusing mainly on interaction and communication between the participants. The main difference between this and other forms of conflict resolution or facilitation is that the transformative mediator’s or transformative facilitator’s goal is to foster the opportunities for clear decision making and a better understanding of the other person(s)’ views, rather than to get the participants to agree or settle. While
On November 22, 2013, Louise Phipps Senft spoke at the Ray Rice Anti-Bullying Links of Kindness Conference held at the SECU Arena at Towson University. The event, organized by Ray Rice, Pro-Bowl running back of the Baltimore Ravens, drew a crowd of 5,000 parents, teachers and students to seek solutions to bullying and recognize the efforts in Maryland to stop cyber-bullying in particular through Grace’s Law. Louise brought her unique perspective to the conversation. Below is the text of her speech.
As a personality typing system, the Enneagram has clearly stood the test of time, but Louise Phipps Senft has brought it fully into the 21st century by employing it as a powerful diagnostic tool in the practice of conflict resolution. In a recent training with Louise, I learned that the roots of conflict are self-absorption and confusion, which I can definitely identify with. Seeing a sample conflict scenario was eye-opening, I really identified with the workplace tensions presented. When I’m stressed, I shut down; I don’t let anyone in to help. I’ll just stubbornly grind away in futility.
by Lehn Robinson
I had the privilege of participating in the June 19th 3-day, 20-hour training in Transformative Mediation, which I took as a refresher for the earlier skills I picked up at a 45-hour training I took two years ago. I always try to approach trainings with an open mind, a blank slate, but I was struck nevertheless by some distinct differences between the earlier training and this one taught by Louise Phipps Senft.
In the Community Mediation training I took
Everyday as mediators and teachers in negotiation and conflict resolution we witness and study the dynamics of difficult high-stakes negotiations. We see people stuck in impasse and know that, when they have the strength and humility to engage in mediator-facilitated dialogue and to listen deeply to the other(s), they can overcome any barriers. When facing impasse, true leaders choose to take this path of strength and humility. Unfortunately, President Obama, Speaker Boehner, Senator Reid, and the other 500+ legislators engaged in the current wrangling known as the “government shutdown” refuse to take this path, and this is a failure in leadership.
I had the privilege of participating in the June 19th 3-day, 20-hour training in Transformative Mediation, which I took as a refresher for the earlier skills I picked up at a 45-hour training I took two years ago. I always try to approach trainings with an open mind, a blank slate, but I was struck nevertheless by some distinct differences between the earlier training and this one taught by Louise Phipps Senft.
As mediators, a bedrock tenet of our practice is that we work to help people make free and informed choices as to both the process of working on their conflicts and the outcome of that process. Fundamentally, we believe that everyone has a desire for self-determination – to make their own decisions instead of having decisions handed down to them by others. For many, this strikes a chord related to personal freedom and autonomy that is a strongly held value. It also makes great sense because people value decisions that they own and those decisions lead to more durable agreements.
I was asked by a national bank this summer to give an interview about mediation for their bank sponsored magazine geared for their business clients. A senior marketing executive at the bank recently e-mailed me saying that unfortunately the bank’s legal department asked her to pull the article from publication saying they “didn’t like the topic of choosing mediation over litigation” and that to publish it was “too risky”– essentially, mediation competes with litigation.
Baltimore Mediation was established in 1993 by Louise Phipps Senft as the first mediation firm in the State of Maryland with all services from a transformative approach. Our process is intentionally relational – a better process .. for a better outcome. Whether mediating a conflict between two people or a group, facilitating a difficult conversation for a department or board of directors, or designing a strategic planning process for a management or executive team, Louise and the Baltimore Mediation team
Are you interested in getting your mediation certificate, obtaining your CLEs/continuing education units, or simply connecting with a group of like-minded professionals over cutting edge issues in mediation, conflict transformation and negotiation?
Check out our upcoming trainings for one that’s right for you.
MEDIATION WORKS FOR SEPARATING COUPLES OR FAMILIES
Separation is sometimes used to give couples a chance to get a better perspective on their relationship. Although seen by some as a first step towards divorce, in reality the distance provided by separation can allow for couples to take a meaningful look at their relationship. In many cases, having an impartial mediator can help couples open a dialogue about the problems they face. The mediator facilitates meaningful dialogue and informed decision-making about difficult
Description:
Recent changes in Maryland law require all court-designated mediators in Maryland to receive a minimum of four (4) hours of continuing education toward excellence in providing mediator services. This is a certificated 4-hour course that provides advanced training for mediators and attorneys with a background in mediation. This course does not require previous mediation training, but those new to the field of alternative conflict resolution can expand on what they learn in this course in one of our basic trainings. Click