Mediate.com recently published an article titled Top 5 Co-Parenting Apps for Mediation.

Apps are a recent and welcome tool to the world of co-parenting.  Juggling schedules, finances, messages between two parties can be difficult and these apps hope to resolve many of those issues.  

It is often the case, that co-parents are not able to think far enough ahead when they are in the process of divorce or separation.  Their inability to picture an unknowable future will often times have them return to court for a parenting plan modification.  

As a mediator, I like to suggest co-parenting tools such as apps to help facilitate coordination and communication when the parties are high conflict or simply disorganized.  

It is always helpful to have update on the latest apps and the features they offer.  

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I don't often look to celebrities for their life choices, but in this case, it's great to see what ANYONE is doing for co-parenting that WORKS.  Co-parenting is such an essential part of an divorce.  It requires a lot of planning, communication and coordination.  

If you're looking to be inspired, check out this article on insider.com 

In support of using Mediation in Medicine, an abstract found on PubMed.gov (National Library of Medicine), Debra Gerardi says:

"Healthcare organizations must find ways for managing conflict and developing effective working relationships to create healthy work environments. The effects of unresolved conflict on clinical outcomes, staff retention, and the financial health of the organization lead to many unnecessary costs that divert resources from clinical care. The complexity of delivering critical care services makes conflict resolution difficult. Developing collaborative working relationships helps to manage conflict in complex environments. Working relationships are based on the ability to deal with differences. Dealing with differences requires skill development and techniques for balancing interests and communicating effectively. Techniques used by mediators are effective for resolving disputes and developing working relationships. With practice, these techniques are easily transferable to the clinical setting. Listening for understanding, reframing, elevating the definition of the problem, and forming clear agreements can foster working relationships, decrease the level of conflict, and create healthy work environments that benefit patients and professionals."

Mediation can be used as a tool to improve communication and resolve conflict and tension in any environment.  If you have a workplace issue, do not hesitate to contact us and find out how we can help.  

Digital Journal just posted an article called 'Mediation is the Secret to a Simple and Cost-Effective Divorce.  

Naturally, this may seem obvious, but may still be an under utilized option.  

In many cases the emotional and mental distress caused by divorce can cause parties to have tunnel vision and render them incapable of thinking through possible alternatives that are less-costly.  

"Anger and disappointments are common feelings in most divorce negotiation processes. In most cases, the involved parties have a hard time reaching agreement on divorce issues such as child custody, division of property, child support, and visitation issues among others. However, mediation often provides the divorcing spouses an opportunity to take control of their future lives by resolving the contentious issues without the necessity of litigation."

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/4715373#ixzz6PeqffwL5

KSL.com recently posted an article about conflicts arising in families due to being home all the time with your family.  The author, Kim Giles, sites the two main reasons/fears associated with common conflicts are:

• The fear of failure (that I might not be good enough)
• the fear of loss (that I might be mistreated or lose something)

I have found that we all suffer from both these fears to some degree every day. But I've noticed each person also has one of these two core fears that is their primary bad behavior trigger. If a person ever behaves badly or starts a fight, it is usually their same core fear that has been triggered. I call this your dominant core fear.

She later recommends:

Do not talk down to others. See them as equal and talk to them with love and respect. Try to use "I" statements, not "you" statements. "You are making me feel unloved" is an attack; "I am feeling unloved" is the truth.
Talk about your fear issues and feelings, and ask if the other person might be willing to help you by changing some behavior moving forward. Focus totally on the future behavior you want to see, not past behavior that they cannot change.

These issues and changes in behavior can be discussed in a safe setting like mediation where an unbiased third party can facilitate communication and understanding.