ROUNDTABLE BREAKFAST: SELF-DETERMINATION IN MEDIATION: The Art and Science of Mirrors and Lights

ACR-GNY & CUNY Dispute Resolution Center at John Jay College present:  

VIRTUAL ROUNDTABLE BREAKFAST

SELF DETERMINATION IN MEDIATION: The Art and Science of Mirrors and Lights 

Self-determination is generally considered an important value, and perhaps defining feature, of mediation; yet, few agree on what it means or how to balance it with other principles and values, such as fairness, protection, and efficiency. The presenters will explore these tough questions,

using research on human nature and basic psychological needs as they attempt to answer them.

The presenters will also discuss and demonstrate practices that mediators can use to potentially enhance party self-determination rather than simply allow for it. Finally, the presenters will share stories of mediations where their commitment to radical party self-determination led to surprising outcomes.

DAN SIMON, MA, JD, is a fellow and board member of the Institute for the Study of Conflict Transformation (ISCT). Dan has practiced and taught mediation since 1996, and he has been licensed to practice law in Minnesota since 1992. He is a past-chair of the ADR Section of the Minnesota State Bar Association and served for six years on the Minnesota Supreme Court’s ADR Ethics Board. He wrote “Transformative mediation for divorce: Rising above the law and the settlement,” a chapter in Transformative Mediation: A Sourcebook (ACR, 2010), and co-authored “Transformative mediation: Illustrating a relational view of conflict intervention,” a chapter in The Mediation Handbook (Routledge, 2017). He practices and teaches transformative mediation in Minnesota and Southern California.

TARA WEST is the author of The Mediator’s Approach: Five (and a Half) Paths Through Conflict, co-author of Self-Determination in Mediation: The Art and Science of Mirrors and Lights, and a fellow of the Institute for the Study of Conflict Transformation. Tara has taught and developed undergraduate and graduate psychology courses covering such topics as socio-cultural approaches to psychology, developmental psychology, personality psychology, group processes, and the psychology of conflict resolution. Tara earned her PhD in Social and Health Psychology from Stony Brook University and her JD from the New York University School of Law.