The Mediator's Handbook

The classic resource for effective mediation - now fully updated and expanded

The popular Mediator's Handbook presents a time-tested, adaptable model for helping people work through conflict.

Starting with a new chapter on assessing conflict and bringing people to the table, it explains the process step-by-step, from opening conversations and exploring the situation, through the phases of finding resolution-deciding on topics, reviewing options, and testing agreements. The Toolbox section then details the concepts and skills a mediator needs in order to:

• Understand the Conflict
• Support the people
• Facilitate the process
• Guide decision-making.

The Mediator's Handbook's emphasis is on what the mediator can do or say NOW, and on the underlying principles and core methods that can help the mediator make wise choices.

Long a popular course textbook for high schools, universities, and training programs, The Mediator's Handbook is also a valued desk reference for professional mediators, and a practical guide for managers, organizers, teachers, and anyone working with clients, customers, volunteers, committees or teams.

Extensively revised to incorporate recent practice and thinking, the accessible manual format lays out a clear structure for new and occasional mediators, while offering a detailed, nuanced resource for professionals.

Dr. Jennifer E. Beer, PhD , combines mediation experience with her cultural anthropology background to lead courses and workshops in mediation, conflict resolution, and cross-cultural communication. She regularly teaches a negotiation course at Wharton (University of Pennsylvania). Author of the Mediator's Handbook and of Peacemaking in Your Neighborhood , she has mediated conflicts and facilitated meetings for communities and organizations for 30 years. She lives in Pennsylvania.

Caroline C. Packard, JD , is an organizational change and conflict response specialist and mediator with 30 years' experience in the field. A graduate of Yale College and NYU School of Law, and a former corporate litigator with extensive formal training in individual and group psychology, Caroline has a special interest in the evolutionary psychology of group conflict and cooperation. She provides mediation and conflict-resolution services and training to organizations, families, and family businesses. She lives in the United States

Eileen Stief developed the mediation process and principles documented in The Mediator's Handbook , and trained a generation of mediators to work with community, multi-party, and environmental disputes. Now retired, she led the Friends Conflict Resolution Program's experiment in community dispute settlement and later specialized in environmental mediation. She lives in the United States.

Elizabeth Elwood Gates provided the delightful cartoon illustrations in honor of her aunt, Ann Richan, who was a passionate champion of community mediation.