WHY MEDIATE?

• From a one-word expletive shouted across the kitchen table to a deadly confrontation in a parking lot with a firearm --
• An unanswered "Hello" becomes a long-standing feud --
• Unresolved Conflict is everywhere around us.


THE DAMAGE
• To families: domestic abuse, custody battles, communication breakdowns
• To schools: student and faculty assaults, harassment, lost class time
• To neighborhoods: neighbor disputes, gang violence, police time wasted
• To businesses: loss of productivity, needless litigation, backstabbing, retaliation
• To innocent parties: collateral damage of every kind


HERE IS JUST A SNAPSHOT
• One in two marriages ends in divorce
• There are as many family members in the U. S. that don't speak, than that do
• Homicides are the second leading cause of death among 15-24 year olds
• Schoolyard fights in California rose by 16% in 2001
• A lawsuit can take 2.5 years, on the average, to come to trial
• Of the 10 million civil lawsuits filed each year, only 10% ever get to a courtroom
• Employers lose 64% of wrongful termination cases averaging $600,000 dispute
• Legal costs to an employer who WINS a dispute is about $50,000, plus resources
• Unresolved conflicts result in over 8,000 reported hate crimes per year
• Stress from conflict may increase a person's risk for cardiovascular disease, psychological disorders, workplace injury, and other health problems
• In divorce cases, conflict often escalates from the time a couple determines they want a divorce until the divorce is final


UNRESOLVED CONFLICTS EXPLODE SO FREQUENTLY INTO VIOLENT ACTS THAT THE CENTER FOR DISEASE CONTROL (CDC) HAS CALLED THIS SITUATION A "PUBLIC HEALTH ISSUE".

The First Line of Defense … Resolve rather than Escalate conflict. Conflict is natural, necessary and an opportunity for growth. Most conflicts … from personal to business to community … can be peaceably resolved with the proper tools.

One such tool is mediation, a positive, empowering and confidential process for resolving conflict. With the benefit of a neutral third party disputants can come together face-to-face in an environment that promotes collaboration, peace, the preservation and restoration of relationships and reduction of stress and violence.

Well, here's the problem … as successful as mediation and other alternative dispute resolution options have been, (85-90% success rate) the general public is still largely unaware of these resources, and how they can work in their daily lives. The bottom line: THOUGH IT CAN CHANGE THE LIVES OF EACH AND EVERY PERSON ON EARTH, COOPERATIVE CONFLICT RESOLUTION IS QUITE OFTEN AN UNTAPPED RESOURCE.

Enter Barb North, Mediator, Trainer, Keynote Speaker, Conflict Manager and Personal Conflict Coach. Entertaining as well as informative, Barb, a stand-up comedian, television producer and talent manager added a "second career" as a certified mediator for a Community and Court Mediation Program over fifteen years ago. A classic "middle child" and always involved in mediating disputes for people, formal training helped Barb understand and refine what she was already doing naturally. Her years of experience as a mediator and trainer have become a foundation for the empowering tips she offers her clients. Now, literally thousands of disputes later, Ms. North presents a new way of thinking about conflict; using it to strengthen relationships and create a Win Win situation for all the parties. Barb had designed and/or implemented over 2,500 trainings, mediated more than a thousand disputes, taught organizations how to deal with internal conflicts, and appeared on Network and Cable television to share her insights. She has some simple answers to resolving and changing the way we all view conflict.

Quote:
We are human and live in the "real world". Conflict is natural and sometimes disputes arise. Unresolved conflict can escalate rapidly.