Narrative mediation is a method of conflict resolution based on how people structure and describe the gaps or contradictions in which they are immersed. It should be noted that personal language reflects the way the world is understood and generally provides valuable guidance on the true nature of conflict.
In general, narrative mediation is implemented to facilitate the expression of the personal interests and needs of each party and to intervene in a way that fosters intrapersonal and interpersonal understanding through the deconstruction of individual narratives.
- One conflict begins to resolve when its essence can be realized.
- Sometimes one person thinks that what bothers the other is.
- For example.
- Their lack of cooperation.
- However.
- Through narrative mediation it can be established that.
- In fact.
- Discomfort occurs the way in which the person requests such collaboration.
- Which becomes visible if it is encouraged and analyzed how everyone relates to the conflict.
“Our differences originate from the two most abundant sources of public calamity: ignorance and weakness. “
-Simon Bolivar-
To understand how narrative mediation can be applied, it is necessary to first clarify some of the concepts inherent in this method, these concepts are: narrative of conflicts, alternative narrative and narrative goal.
The characteristics of the stories are another aspect to consider before beginning to apply narrative mediation, these elements are the basis for the realization of the process of deconstruction of conflict, the characteristic elements of the stories are:
It is common for a person’s conflict to be very different from that reported by their counterpart, sometimes it is as if they are talking about two different realities.
Narrative mediation is precisely about achieving language unification.
Narrative mediation uses several techniques to achieve conflict resolution, the ultimate goal is to build a common story between the parties, represent them and give rise to a common alternative narrative, for this you can use one or more of the following techniques:
All these techniques aim to deconstruct the narrative of each of the parties, seek to reduce rigidity and make it more understandable for all parties, these techniques usually work well in organizational contexts.