In this episode of The Other Chair, author, attorney, trainer, and understanding-based mediator Katherine E. Miller shares how the understanding-based model turns divorce from a fight into an opportunity for insight - helping parties name emotions, uncover priorities, and negotiate clearer outcomes.

Drawing from her book The Emotionally Savvy Divorce Miller offers practical strategies for mediators and couples - from holding a safe space, processing anxiety, using writing and coaching, and combining emotional clarity with negotiation techniques - to reach respectful, lasting agreements.

In this episode Gary Friedman traces the evolution of mediation from a people-centered alternative to a lawyer-dominated process, explaining how courts and legal culture turned voluntary mediation into mandatory settlement practices. He describes the understanding-based model that returns decision-making to the parties, while showing how lawyers and the law can support - rather than control - constructive, creative agreements.

Friedman offers practical takeaways for mediators and attorneys: how to keep clients at the center, use legal input as a helpful reference, expand what’s negotiable so the “pie” grows, and find professional and personal satisfaction in fostering durable, human-centered resolutions.

Welcome to The Other Chair. Today, we’re exploring a familiar challenge in professional life - workplace conflict. Whether it’s friction between coworkers, breakdowns in communication, or tension between managers and team members, conflict at work can take a toll on trust, collaboration, and productivity.

Our guest is Pat Lau, a longtime workplace mediator, conflict resolution trainer, and co-founder of Intel’s Collaborative Mediation Program. From 2010 to 2024, Pat helped develop and lead one of the few in-house workplace mediation programs inside a major global corporation. His work with Intel's teams, peer managers, and leaders helped address difficult conflicts in a way that encouraged understanding instead of blame.