Exploring the Significance of Emotion for Mediation Practice

The authors report on their exploratory study examining the learning process embedded in mediation. Their research procedures involved directed reflexive journaling followed by group discussions to generate insights into how mediation practitioners experience learning in mediation. The significance and role of emotion emerged as central to the dynamic of this learning process. The research indicates that the experience of positive and negative emotions attached to learning needs to be allowed and attended to within the mediation dynamic. This suggests that mediation practitioners need the competence to follow and understand their own learning-attached emotions as well as those of the parties