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May in Baltimore—Lessons from Poe: Detecting the Inner Mediator

 

Three conflict resolution programs on May 2 and 3. Will you be joining us at these events sponsored by the ADR Section of the Maryland Bar Association?

And what does Edgar Allan Poe have to do with mediation?

Poe is acknowledged by many as the genius who invented the detective story and inspired the genre of science fiction. Over 150 years after his death, we can still learn much from the imagination of this author and poet.

A skilled mediator is a supreme detective. The foremost, primary, and threshold mystery to solve: What method of mediation is best suited to the individual conflict professional, the parties, and the conflict. We will use an assessment approach to facilitate that first solution.

The clues a mediator must be able to read with precision involve self-awareness and self-knowledge, discovery of purpose, theory of mind (or discovering what's in the minds of other people), and razor focus on solutions, not problems. We will take our magnifying glasses to those topics and sharpen those skills.

Click for more information and to register. There's still time for the early-bird rate.

Brains on Purpose: Traits and States to Shape Your Conflict Fate

I was interviewed this week by Zena Zumeta for Pattie Porter's podcast series. The description of the program:

Brains on Purpose: Traits and States to Shape Your Conflict Fate

Our brains are changing all the time. We can be in control of those changes or we can have accidental brains, ruled by habit. Stephanie will show you how you can break bad habits, set and reach goals, and maximize your ability to handle conflict through the process of self-directed neuroplasticity. By using some basic techniques, you can take charge of how your brain changes. You can rewire your brain on purpose.

You may listen to the interview here, here, or here.

 

Happy Valentine's Day: A bouquet of mindfulness resources for you

Saint Valentine is the patron saint of love. Since mindfulness is probably a component of any loving relationship, including friendship and self-affirmation, today is an apt day to post some related resources. My task was made easy because this week has seen a flurry of mindfulness articles published and posted.

Dr. Catherine Kerr's research on mindfulness was in the news. (Click to watch a talk give by her.) From "A neural basis for benefits of meditation," the press release issued by Brown University:

“We think we’re the first group to propose an underlying neurophysiological mechanism that directly links the actual practice of mindful awareness of breath and body sensations to the kinds of cognitive and emotional benefits that mindfulness confers,” said lead author Catherine Kerr, assistant professor (research) of family medicine at the Alpert Medical School and director of translational neuroscience for the Contemplative Studies Initiative at Brown.

Click to read the study "Mindfulness starts with the body: somatosensory attention and top-down modulation of cortical alpha rhythms in mindfulness meditation" (Frontiers in Human Neuroscience).

Professor Amish Jha wrote an article for Scientific American Mind titled "Mindfulness Can Improve Your Attention and Health." Excerpt:

Mindfulness in legal practice is going mainstream

The ABA Journal recently included an article on mindfulness in the law. From "Mindfulness in legal practice is going mainstream":

“I stay calm myself to get the best out of my clients, to get the best out of opposing counsel,” says Tosta, now a partner at McKenna Long & Aldridge who writes and speaks about applying a contemplative perspective to the law.

As Tosta was learning to still his mind, a similar shift was occurring across the profession as a growing number of lawyers discovered mindfulness practices and, more important, began talking to each other about it.

The late Steven Keeva, an editor at the ABA Journal, wrote about it in his book, Transforming Practices: Finding Joy and Satisfaction in the Legal Life. Law professors began teaching their students to meditate. New studies were released suggesting meditation may strengthen the brain. And as economic pressures mounted in the past few years—and concern about anxiety and depression among lawyers grew—so did interest in these practices that were said to sharpen decision-making skills and combat stress.

“The recession was really an important catalyst,” Tosta says.

The Texas Conflict Coach® Radio Blog Program: February Series

As you can see from the announcement below, I will be featured on one of the programs next month. The calls look good; perhaps you will consider joining one, two, or more?

The Texas Conflict Coach® Blog Talk Radio program announces “Your Brain on Conflict” Series starting in the month of February, held every Tuesday night from 7:00-7:30 pm CST/8:00-8:30 pm EST.

To participate, either go to the designated link for each program or call-in live at 347-324-3591.

February 5th: Your Brain on Conflict: “Resistance is Fertile”
Guest: Scott Rogers

What happens in our brain when we are engaged in an emotionally-charged conflict?
Neuroscience or brain science has emerged with answers that help us begin to
understand the physiological, emotional, and cognitive impact on us in these types of
situations. One method for dealing with these intense situations is called mindfulness.
We will explore what mindfulness is and share tips for how to practically apply
techniques to manage conflict and the emotions you experience.

February 12th: Rewire Your Brain to Speak Your Mind
Guest: Anastasia Pryanikova

Every conflict contains a seed that in the right conditions can germinate into a new
understanding, deeper awareness, and creative possibilities. The inner workings of the
brain can advance or hinder this process. This program will explore implications of
current neuroscience research for communication, social interactions, conflict
management, and influence.

February 19th: Brains on Purpose: Traits and States to Shape Your Conflict Fate
Guest: Stephanie West Allen
Host: Zena Zumeta

Our brains are changing all the time. We can be in control of those changes or we can have

Some articles on neuroscience and mindfulness or meditation

At the Texas Tech Web page for Dr. Yi-Yuan Tang, you will find links to several articles on neuroscience of mindfulness or of meditation.

Is the mindful brain an overhyped topic?

Pop neuroscience continues to come under criticism. To read more on the criticism and skepticism, click to my most recent post over at Brains on Purpose™. For those of you who follow brain science and what neuroscience can tell us about mindfulness, I point you to this post from beliefnet. From "The Mindful Brain: Hype or Hope":

I am sure mindfulness proponents, myself among them, have sometimes oversold the findings of research. Science is a slow, accretive process. It moves at a glacial pace of discovery–too slow for our impatient sound byte culture. Neuroscientists barely understand the brain despite decades of research and thousands of researchers conducting this research.

Why is this so? Simple. Their subject matter–the human brain–is the most complex thing in the known universe. It’s going to take a while to figure it out.

Click to read the rest.

A blog I just discovered on practical brain science (written by another attorney who has moved on from the practice of law)

For years, I have known Roger Anunsen, a non-practicing lawyer, via e-mail and occasional phone call but did not know that he has a blog! It is a part of his Web site focused on brain health and cognitive fitness.

Note: Don't be confused by his home page where it says "Check out our recent blogs... ." There is only one blog; the page is pointing you to posts in the plural, not blogs. Just one blog, but it is one worth checking out.

44 new cites in current edition of MINDFULNESS RESEARCH MONTHLY

From the current edition of the monthly newsletter:

Contents

44 New Cites

12 Interventions

15 Associations

6 Methods

10 Reviews

1 Trial

Highlights

Announcements

"Minding the Court: Enhancing the Decision-Making Process"

"Minding the Court: Enhancing the Decision-Making Process" is a white paper of the American Judges Association.

Extract from Executive Summary:

Scientists carefully study how our brain processes information, though judges rarely consider these studies. But this research has great potential significance to judges, who spend much of their time making decisions of great importance to others. Although the study of how the brain processes information is an evolving one, the information now available can help judges to make better decisions.

Much of the processing for simple tasks—called reflexive processing—occurs in the background, while most of us solve riddles or math problems through reflective processing, which is deliberate and conscious. The reflective system has a limited capacity, so we operate on a principle of least effort, tending to rely on the reflexive system when possible. To do so, we often use what scientists call schemas, in which characteristics of objects, people, or behaviors coalesce into an easily recognizable pattern (like our ability to tell that a red octagon in the distance is a stop sign).

Heuristics are schemas that are based on only part of the information available— letting us make decisions more quickly. But heuristics can be faulty in a variety of ways. And since heuristics (like all schemas) operate in the world of unconscious, reflexive processing, we can easily make errors without recognizing the source of a faulty decision. Anchoring is one of these heuristics: for example, a person is likely to give a higher or lower estimate of damages if a particularly high (or low) figure is introduced early in the process. That number—even if far off the mark—tends to act as an anchor around which later estimates are formed.

Implicit biases, another type of schema, also threaten fair processes and just outcomes. They are based on implicit attitudes or stereotypes that operate below the radar, and judges have been shown susceptible to them as well.

But most behaviors and decisions result from a combination of both reflexive and reflective processes, so there are ways to lessen the effects of faulty heuristics and implicit biases. One step