Brains On Purpose™

Now online: A new article by Jeff Schwartz and me, plus the newest intallment of my ADR column

The new edition of The Complete Lawyer includes an article by Jeff and me entitled "Exercise Mind Hygiene On A Daily Basis." Excerpt:

Become More Self-Aware In Three Steps

Your reflective mind is your shield against living reactively. It can help you become wiser, healthier and more satisfied—which is worth more than any imaginable income. It is easy to use—but not often simple. Here are three steps that will help you separate yourself from your reactive brain and begin to move into your reflective mind.

The edition is focused on "A Sound Mind in a Sound Body" and has articles for everyone. While you are over there, please take a look at the second installment of my ADR column "The Human Factor." I cowrite it with my terrific ADR sisters Victoria Pynchon, Gini Nelson, and Diane Levin.

Therapeutic jurisprudence: Some thoughts and resources

Knowledge of the brain and the mind, and of their role in conflict and its resolution, is not only helpful in alternative dispute resolution but also in adversarial proceedings. Neuroscience certainly should have its place at the table when the discussion is about how to make any kind of dispute resolution as effective, appropriate, and respectful as possible.

And neuroscience can contribute valuable insight to the discussions about therapeutic jurisprudence.

"Legal Proceedings Can Be Therapeutic, Study Finds," an article from earlier this week in Science Daily, begins with an explanation of therapeutic jurisprudence . . .

It may seem that therapy and law do not share a common bond, but one University of Arizona law professor is making that connection by developing a body of knowledge to prove that legal proceedings can be calming and supportive.

The theory and practice David B. Wexler helped create -- termed "therapeutic jurisprudence" -- could strengthen interactions between clients and judges and improve the way trials and hearings run. It also could change negative perceptions about law.

"Law school teaches you about rules, arguments and logic -- but not the impact of the law on the emotional life or well-being of people," says Wexler, a distinguished research professor in the James E. Rogers College of Law. "That has been an underappreciated aspect of the law -- a dimension of the law that has been ignored."

Wexler says a goal of therapeutic jurisprudence is to "mitigate the stress and trauma associated with the legal process." Of course, one way to facilitate that goal is to know how the mind and brain are

Your values: One way to lessen the stress of conflict

Of course, conflict can be stressful. When stress impedes the resolution of the conflict, many methods are available to lessen stress. One method, studied at UCLA, is affirming one's values. Affirmations have been touted by many New Age gurus and joked about by comedians. In MedicineNet.com article "Trump Stress With Your Thoughts," David Creswell, lead researcher in this study of values affirmation, explains the difference between that kind of affirmation and the affirmation he studied . . .

Typically, when people think about affirmation, they think about Stuart Smalley on Saturday Night Live," says Creswell. "You know, 'I really like myself.' But this was a much more subtle activity -- just thinking about an important value.

The study looked at stress created by public speaking. Public speaking is often cited as number one on lists of fears. Prior to public speaking (and researchers added some stressors to the public speaking experience, including an unfriendly audience), research participants listed their top five values and then participated in an exercise that forced them to think about one of those values.

The study, described in the Psychological Science article "Affirmation of Personal Values Buffers Neuroendocrine and Psychological Stress Responses," found fewer indicators of stress in those who had affirmed their values prior to the stressful situation.

Although doing a values exercise is probably not going to be appropriate in many conflict resolution settings, getting disputants to recall important values is often done either deliberately or