'Addressing Difficult Emotions in Mediation' focus of section's webinar

The Alternative Dispute Resolution Section of the State Bar of Michigan will present a webinar on “Effectively Addressing Difficult Emotions in Mediation” Thursday, May 11, from noon to 1:30 p.m. via Zoom.

In this presentation, attendees will learn practical strategies to address blame, shame and other difficult emotions that frequently arise in mediation. The webinar will also explore how to recognize and effectively respond to four common reactions to shame – blaming others, blaming self, avoidance, and withdrawal.   The impact of emotions on dispute resolution and the difference between shame and guilt also will be explored.  

Participants will learn a step-by-step process for addressing difficult emotions and have an opportunity to engage in skill building through interactive exercises. The presentation will include helpful checklists and tools for identifying prevalent cognitive biases and techniques for managing and counteracting these biases and for promoting respectful and restorative conflict resolution.

Through participation in this session, attendees will develop greater confidence in addressing difficult emotions in mediation and learn a process for helping parties to take responsibility for their own part in the conflict and engage in productive problem solving to reach a mutually agreeable resolution, rather than focusing on who is to blame.

Laura A. Athens, mediator, facilitator and arbitrator, will be the featured speaker for the webinar with Zena D. Zumeta as moderator.

Athens is an attorney, mediator, facilitator and arbitrator in Farmington Hills who has more than 30 years of legal experience. Athens provides alternative dispute resolution (ADR) services in a variety of matters, including elementary and secondary education, higher education, university faculty grievance, employment, vocational rehabilitation, student discipline, eldercare, guardianship and disability rights cases.

Athens currently serves as an arbitrator in automotive consumer and home warranty cases and previously served as a hearing officer in special education and vocational rehabilitation due process hearings. As an adjunct professor at Wayne State University Law School, Athens taught education law, health law and bioethics.

She also taught Legal Research and Writing at Washington University School of Law as a Visiting Assistant Professor.

Athens is an associate of Professional Resolution Experts of Michigan, LLC (PREMi) and has served on the State Bar of Michigan Alternative Dispute Resolution Council and as a former Chair of the Oakland County Bar Association ADR Committee.

Zumeta is internationally known as both a mediator and trainer of mediators. She is president of the Mediation Training and Consultation Institute, Zena Zumeta Mediation Services, and The Collaborative Workplace in Ann Arbor. She received her law degree from the University of Michigan Law School.

Zumeta is a former board member and president of the Academy of Family Mediators (AFM), now merged into the Association for Conflict Resolution (ACR); past president of the Michigan Council for Family and Divorce Mediation; and past regional vice president of the Society of Professionals in Dispute Resolution.

There is no cost for the webinar. To register, visit https://connect.michbar.org/adr/home.