ReSolution Issue 12, Feb 2017 | Page 14

"The goal of mediation is to generate more information."

But if we want people to take away something more from mediation than a written agreement, the process of mediation must also elicit how the parties find meaning. Meaning-making is yet another primary job of the brain and pertains to how something is relevant to the individual. Meaning-making, too, is governed by mind patterns – habitual ways of thinking and acting first created and then reinforced by past experience. Between the two, meaning is more important than making sense (Ibid., p. 54) because meaning affects how we learn. It’s not enough to just understand the conflict-at-hand; mediation has to cultivate an understanding of how and why it’s important to each person involved.
6. The goal of mediation is to generate more information. The prefrontal cortical area of the brain is not the rational brain; it doesn’t have veto power over our behavior nor can it ensure we do “the right thing.” We can fully engage the prefrontal cortex, weigh the various options, meditate on our choices, and still make a lousy decision. The prefrontal cortex is more intentional than it is rational; it is built on a foundation of sub-cortical structures and owes its prowess to those layers. Rather than an executive controller, the value of the PFC lies in its generative powers: in its capacity to take in more and more information, re-sort it, reorganize it, and realign is so it makes sense and has meaning in a new way. The goal of mediation is to walk in with one explanation and walk out with another, deeper and wider understanding. Such an understanding should help individuate the other person or people involved and begin to take into account the effect we have on others.
7. This brings us back to the beginning: Mediation is a process among equals. For humans, change is a slow and hard process, habits unfold automatically, and we seem to naturally revert back to the path of least effort. Everyone in a mediation session has something to learn. Beneath our everyday mind patterns lies a set of expectations we each carry around with us about the world: rules about how things should happen, what we’re entitled to, what fairness means, etc. To the extent that mediation provides even a glimpse of one of these mind patterns to anyone involved – in addition to evoking a new understanding of the situation and the other party – it should be considered a huge success.
* This article was firs published in mediate.com

About the author

Camaron J. Thomas, Ph.D. is returning to mediation after several years’ hiatus writing her latest book, The Wisdom of the Brain – Neuroscience for Helping Professionals.

Camaron has a PhD in Transpersonal Psychology from Westbrook University, a MPA from Maxwell School of Syracuse University
and BS in Criminal Justice from State University College at Buffalo.

To learn more about Camaron, visit her website.