Facilitators take an optimistic view of the disputants’ motives
and competence.
• Facilitators are responsive to the emotional expression of
people in conflict.
• Exploring the parties’ uncertainties ultimately helps them to
dispel their confusion.
Though not all concepts from the Transformative Mediation
framework are applicable to the CINERGYTM model, the above points
illustrate a number of shared philosophical and practical underpinnings.
Narrative Mediation
The principles that follow are based on the book Narrative Mediation:
A New Approach to Conflict Resolution by John Winslade and Gerald
Monk. 10 This approach, like the transformative process just described,
also has its roots in social constructionism and similarly departs from
the traditional interest-based approaches for resolving disputes.
Narrative Mediation facilitators encourage disputants to gain
understanding about their conflicts through discovering their shared
social and cultural narratives. This form of mediation concentrates on
the importance of building a new story of the disputing parties’ relationship
that is not compatible with their conflict stories. Some principles
from the Narrative Mediation framework that are relevant to
the CINERGY™ model follow:
• The facts of the stories that each person brings to the forum
are not the focus.
• Strategic questioning serves to probe the deeper meaning
expressed by the disputants. By increasing their knowledge,
the parties have the opportunity to re-evaluate their initial
perspectives and explore other possibilities.
• Deconstructing and reconstructing conflict situations are integral
steps for assisting people in re-scripting their conflict stories.
• Gaining perspective on the other person’s viewpoint is integral
to the process.
Insight Mediation
Another approach to discussing differences with the help of a thirdparty
facilitator is Insight Mediation, described in the book Transforming
Conflict Through Insight by Kenneth R. Melchin and Cheryl A.
Picard. 11 Insight Mediation is not so much focused on resolution as it
is on ensuring that the parties “engage in fair and fruitful conversations.”
12 The theory and practice reflect the view that value narratives
from our past give rise to feelings of threat that distort our understanding
of others. Those who practice this form of mediation invite
disputing parties to understand why this is so and to examine deeper
levels of their values and feelings.13 Facilitators also help the parties
de-link the perception that the other person’s cares and concerns are
necessarily a threat to their own.
Here are some other points from the insight approach that relate
to the CINERGY™ model:
• We are social beings and seek to understand ourselves and
others in relation to the traditions and various influences that
shape us.
• Our actions arise from our beliefs about how people should
engage with others.
• Insights into our values, cares and related threats have the
potential to shift the way we think and feel about our values
and the other person’s. Such shifts change how we view our
conflicts.
Solution-Focused Conflict Management
This type of conflict management process, as described by Fredrike
Bannink in her Handbook of Solution-FocusedC onflict Management,1 4
has its roots in solution-focused brief therapy. Several basic principles
in this practice also resound with the CINERGY™ model. These
include not dwelling extensively on past problems but rather, helping
clients investigate new forward-chinking possibilities. Like facilitators
of solution-focused processes, conflict management coaches develop effective questioning
skills to help clients explore their feelings and
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