In any battle there will always be non-combatants who may be harmed by the war. In family mediation, it is usually easy to see who is bearing the brunt of the collateral damage, the children. 
 
It can be difficult when a parent is engaged in what can feel like an existential fight to have capacity to focus on their children.  The original choice to have children with the now ex-partner is long-forgotten. Instead, all of the negatives regarding the adult relationship and every fault as a parent are thrown into high relief.
 
The truth is that there are no perfect parents.  The truth is that at some stage these parents decided to have children together. The truth is that the hurt and pain experienced as an ex-partner, needs to be put aside in order to facilitate a relationship of co-parenting for the benefit of the children.  The truth is that no-one wants to hear this.
 
As a family mediator, I have an ethical duty to assist parents to keep their children’s best interests in focus.  Using psycho-social education and research, there are ways for parents to find a path through the chaos to enable their children to survive and thrive the family’s transition through a parental separation.

There is a point in some negotiations when a party will decide that this is the hill on which they will fight the final battle.  They may have reached agreement on a myriad of issues but this one is “a principle” or “so unjust” that they are willing to walk away from the whole agreement if they do not get what they want on this one issue.
 
Often these parties have worked extremely hard and are at the end of their energy and endurance.  It is critical at this stage for parties to take a moment and consider the entirety of the negotiation.  It is helpful for parties to remember: 
 

• what has been gained, 
• to list the items which meet their self-identified needs
• to highlight what the alternative to a negotiated agreement will look like e.g. next steps / process

 
For me, this proverb rings true when I see parties who have overcome significant challenges and have climbed the mountain, only to trip over a stone in the path. Staying focused at this stage can help parties to keep sight of their goals and to side step that last stone.

I think this one speaks for itself.

​What could this mean in the context of conflict?  Just as in any fabric where threads must go in two directions, the warp and the weft, a negotiation cannot just achieve one person’s positions.  A durable solution, a negotiated agreement will have threads going in both directions.  
 
Mediators are seeking to work with parties to find a solution that provides enough of what each party needs to make an agreement work.  The warp and the weft are both needed to make the agreement sustainable.