There are some professionals who, when we think about mediation, understand that there are two rhythms, the public and private sphere. The public administration is doing its homework little by little when it comes to consolidating mediation and giving social recognition to this very necessary profession in these current times and which will force many legal operators to modernize.
This article aims to analyze the second rhythm, that of private sphere, which requires entrepreneurship and betting on a white label such as Mediation for the exercise of various professions dedicated to conflict management.
Our methodology in Mediation
My original profession is that of a lawyer and when we decided to set up a Mediation company we had to prepare the relevant business plan and opt for your own methodology which would be the soul and distinctive of our company.
We cannot conceive of managing any conflict without having a interdisciplinary team of professionals. Those of us who have spent years practicing our original profession on the front line of the conflict (practicing lawyers, psychologists, social workers, architects, etc.) know the importance of a exact conflict mapping to determine how we should intervene to arm the parties to resolve it. This mapping is a detailed analysis of the legal and meta-legal. That in major conflicts is an arduous task that will have to be accompanied by determining exactly What metaprograms are the parties using to choose the mediator or pair of mediators? most suitable for a given conflict.
We understand the use of Mediation based on the strictest professionalism and considering that for it to be effective there is immense work before a group of people sit down to mediate.
We start from the basis that "The human being is a social and interdependent being"Therefore, we are gregarious, and particularly in our professional activity.
Interdisciplinary work
Mediation is a complex practice, where especially legal and relational aspects. In Mediation every discipline is linked to another discipline, which leads to exchanging guidelines to deal with certain situations. Therefore, it requires support of different areas of knowledge, other methodologies and practices, requiring the presence of different disciplines. This need to meet different knowledge, methodologies and practices leads to the creation of interdisciplinary work teams.
Interdisciplinary work is carried out through reflective teamwork. It is a way of co-constructing the mediation process, a way of accompanying those mediated to find solutions to their conflict in a way more systemic and with more creativity.
Necessary conditions for interdisciplinary work:
The conditions that we think are necessary to be able to work as an interdisciplinary team and for their work to have meaning in the mediation processes. It involves keeping the following points in mind:
- Conviction in the importance of this type of collaborative work.
- You must have information on the knowledge and practices of the other disciplines with which you will work.
- To face certain problematic situations, it is useful to have elements of comparison between one discipline and another.
- Humility and scientific respect. All disciplines have foundations and foundations in the incidence of conflict.
- Be willing to discuss and learn from others.
- Flexibility to accept other views of the conflict
The French liberal historian, François Furet He said:
» It is not enough to speak to be heard
It is not enough to listen to be understood
It is not enough to understand to learn «.
What are the main objectives of a Mediator?
The challenge of the Mediator is to build the basic knowledge to understand through the questions where the conflict exists. The fundamental axis is the enrichment of various disciplines that work in a synchronized way to achieve the proposed objectives and serve to catalyze conflict prevention and management. Versatility expands the possibilities of success.
Therefore, the professional network must be strengthened. If we mediators limit ourselves to training in the profession of origin, it will go away towards a theory of Mediation favorable to Status quo and not to a holistic approach that focuses on transformation and change. Change involves interdisciplinary activity, since it is flexible, and this trait is one of the indispensable qualities of the mediator's role.
In the words of the Argentine writer and psychotherapist Rene Trossero, in his backwater poetry:
«Say goodbye, let the river of life flow
taking away the waters that you are seeing
so that it takes place before your eyes
the waters you haven't seen yet
and they are coming… »
Advantages of working with a reflective team
This work methodology has certain advantages, the following stand out:
- The reflective team (RE) accompanies the Mediator in making decisions.
- The ER acts as supervision in the mediation. The ER complements the view or interpretation of the mediator
- ER enhances the exchange of meanings from different perspectives.
- The ER enhances the exchange of different disciplinary knowledge.
- ER helps in reformulating narratives
- ER helps in emotional management, both of the mediators and the mediated.
The ER, in short, is a tool to support mediators, but they are the ones who ultimately make the decisions of the mediation process.
This methodology requires collaborative work that can occur in person in the mediation process or in supervision meetings.
In complex cases we decide to do a mediation with a face-to-face reflective team. This methodology requires a setting that incorporates at least two rooms separated by a reflective mirror. The layout of the space that we use is the following:
The mediation space has three different rooms. A room, on the plateau with the multipurpose room, where the reflective equipment is located, on the plane with the letter B. It is a room that allows you to do theoretical and practical training with monitoring of mediation processes. And an office, room C, which serves as support and allows for a different space to specific meetings or well if you decide at a given moment to make a separate intervention of the parties.
Last conclusions
Our experience in the different cases that we have been able to handle in mediation in which we have been able to work as a reflection team has been clearly satisfactory, especially by the members of the team themselves, since it provides a safety and quality in your work, more than a mutual learning that is very enriching.
Unfortunately, it is not always feasible, and the solitude of the mediator imposes. I think it is necessary that mediation is configured by interdisciplinary teams, who, although they do not work on the cases directly, do hold mutual supervision meetings. And if this is not possible, the mediator should join an external supervision group. In fact, my team supervises other Mediators.
This article has been prepared by Jordi Casajoana, mediator, lawyer and Parenting Coordinator.
