News/Blog

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Washington Mediation Association’s 2025 Fall Conference

“Implicit Bias: Why We Can’t Leave It at the Door” ~ The State’s Premier One-Day Mediators Conference ~ Thursday, October 16, 2025, 8:30 AM to 4:00 PM, over Zoom as is our tradition! MORNING PANEL: Karen Gleason, Jack Eiseman, and Sharia Yancey will lead a discussion on implicit

October 2, 2025

2025 WMA Member Survey Report

Greetings to WMA members from your Board of Directors! Our big project from the last few months was the construction of the 2025 WMA Member Survey, sending it out, and learning from what you told us. Here's the summary version of our report: 2025 WMA

September 22, 2025

Humor in Conflict Resolution

by Sam Imperati Conflict is inevitable. Humor can be a surprisingly powerful tool to prevent, manage, and resolve it. As John Stewart said in his last monologue, “Bull$&^! is everywhere.” He called on his viewers to fight against it and left us with these parting words, “I

February 14, 2025

15 Objections to Mediation and Suggested Responses

by Sam Imperati Introduction The Mission of the Washington Mediation Association is to “advance the use of mediation as an effective form of dispute resolution, foster high standards of mediator conduct, train and certify members, and to be the voice of mediators in Washington State.” In furtherance

August 2, 2024

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Consider the “Umbrella Question”

Most issues today are debated not explored. Folks frequently want to "build a case and fix blame" more than "build a relationship and fix the problem." A successful technique is the "umbrella question." It looks like this. "How can we [insert needs of group A] while

April 12, 2024

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Holiday Conversation Guide – by Felicia Staub

HAPPY HOLIDAYS! During holiday gatherings, conflict frequently breaks out. You may be seeing friends and relatives that you don’t often see and don’t have much in common with. The holiday atmosphere can lower people’s inhibitions, as can alcohol consumption. We are living in a very divisive

December 22, 2023

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Looking forward to Next Year’s Conference

The 2023 WMA ANNUAL FALL CONFERENCE was great fun! We celebrated 40 years of WMA service to the mediation community. The day was lively and varied. We are already looking forward to next year’s conference, so stay tuned. And if there are topics you’d like

December 20, 2023

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Fall Conference information

THE 2023 WMA FALL CONFERENCE “Alternative or Mainstream: Modern Mediation and WMA at 40 Years” The 2023 WMA Fall Conference is just around the corner. Join us on Thursday, October 12, 2023 for our one-day 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. (PDT) conference. At the end of the day,

September 16, 2023