Everyone experiences stress during their lives. Sometimes there is acute stress and when the stress is prolonged it can cause health problems. Communications with a close friend, colleague or other family members sometimes become very difficult. If anger and resentment are bottled up, they can explode in hurtful or damaging ways.
At such times a qualified and experienced third party - a mediator - could perhaps help by offering the individual concerned a private initial meeting, first of all, to understand their situation and the difficulties from their perspective. It may then be useful to discuss what they think needs to be worked out and how this might be approached.
Many separating or divorcing couples who take part in family mediation say they wish they had come sooner, when they were arguing and struggling, but their relationship had not yet broken down completely.
Everyone experiences stress during their lives. Sometimes there is acute stress and when the stress is prolonged it can cause health problems. Communications with a close friend, colleague or other family members
These problems of stress and difficult communications are experienced by a great many families, from the poorest and most disadvantaged to the most highly privileged.
It must be extremely stressful to be a member of the royal family, always in the public eye and with the media looking for any story that will attract publicity. Following the recent distressing publicity they have suffered, members of the royal family are clearly making great efforts to talk together and work out suitable arrangements. Maybe some highly confidential mediation at an earlier stage could have provided them with support and empathy and a means of channelling their stress into more helpful and positive communications, well away from the media spotlight.
Prince William and Prince Harry have both shown tremendous understanding and empathy in the initiatives they have taken to help young people talk about their experiences of bereavement and loss. At some time in our lives, all of us may need help to talk. We just need to take the first step.
Lisa Parkinson, mediator, consultant and trainer, has over 40 years’ experience in family mediation. In 1978 she co-founded the 1st family mediation service in the UK, providing out-of-court mediation in disputes between separated parents over their children. From 1986 onwards she developed mediation on all issues in separation and divorce, including finance and property. Lisa has trained a great many family mediators in the UK and other countries. The 4th edition of her book, ‘Family Mediation’, will be published in the spring. There are seven foreign language editions, including Russian and Turkish.