Developing essential skills for mediating across dispute contexts and cultures – An Interview with Tony Whatling

“Disputes inevitably test mediators’ skills to the limit. They are also a powerful reminder of what I refer to in some detail in the book: namely that they should never be applied outside of a framework of appropriate professional values, attitudes and cultural sensitivity and awareness. Skills, strategies and professionals practice can never be value-free.”

Book cover: Making Partnerships with Service Users and Advocacy Groups Work

‘Growing spaces’ as a way of understanding and developing genuine partnerships – An Interview with Jackie Martin and Julie Gosling

“I think that service users can give a perspective which can be lost without their inclusion. Service users can help to cut through some of the professional ‘jargon’ which excludes people, even other professionals sometimes. Professionals are often under considerable pressures to meet targets or stay within budgets, and even with the best will in the world they can start to lose sight of why they came into the profession in the first place. Service users can help to keep that perspective and keep values sharp.”