When a Child Masks With One Parent and Melts Down With the Other
You meet two separated parents. Each describes a child you would struggle to recognise as the same person. One parent talks about a calm, capable, easy kid who never gives them any trouble. The other describes daily meltdowns, exhaustion, and a child barely holding together
When the Referrer Wants a Copy of the Agreement
You are setting up a workplace mediation. The referrer, often someone from HR, says they want a copy of any written agreement the parties reach. It sounds like a routine request, but it changes the process in ways the referrer may not have thought through,
The Job Description and the Unwritten One
Most jobs come with two descriptions. The one that gets written down is about outcomes: deliver this analysis, manage this caseload, draft these contracts, service these clients, hit these targets. That description ends up in the position description, the contract, the performance review. The other
The “Best Interests” of the Neurodivergent Child
The best interests of the child is the principle Australian family dispute resolution is built around. It’s the test parenting arrangements have to satisfy and the standard we keep coming back to in every matter involving kids. The Family Law Act s 60CC factors to
Who Are You Reporting To? Confidentiality in Employer-Referred Conflict Coaching
The setup most of us know Most workplace conflict coaching referrals follow a familiar pattern. An HR manager or other employer representative contacts you. They have two employees who can’t work together, and they want something to change. They arrange coaching, possibly with mediation to
The Skills We Teach in Conflict Resolution, Women Are Told to Unlearn by Judith Rafferty & Sabine Roberts
My friend Sabine, a senior leader in a corporate organisation, recently told me about a moment that a female colleague of hers had experienced at work, a moment that many women in leadership will recognise. Her colleague, a top leader at another corporate organisation, had