Underpinning Ideas and Philosophy

Underpinning ideas

MasonLaporte’s approach to

Conflict Transformation

Mediation

Management and Staff Development

Compassionate Connection Therapy

is based on some underpinning ideas. Once grasped and integrated these ideas equip community members and managers and staff alike to:

Identify and deal with conflict in themselves and others in ways that transform relationships
Work in ways that reduce conflict and so aid performance and welfare

The ideas

All people have needs and are motivated to meet their needs through the use of strategies.
People’s needs, such as safety, contribution, connection and meaning don’t cause conflict. However, what can cause conflict is the strategies people use to meet their needs.
At MLCT we identify what we call the ‘violence cycle’ which is driven by our emotions triggering judgement and prejudice – of ourselves as much as of others. We explore the cycle and the ways it shows up in our everyday lives.
Our approach finds ways to break the violence cycle. In short, this involves much greater awareness of the needs of all those involved and the development of strategies to meet those needs.
Possibly more important than this is the process by which we develop strategies, indeed the core of conflict transformation is the development of ‘good process’. The reality is that our needs are in a continuously changing state of being met or not met. Gaining insights on how to work with this reality, with the ‘messiness’ of life, is a main objective of our programmes.
Our approach falls into the broader arena of conflict transformation – in other words it’s more than compromise or negotiation, which is where people with differences ‘trade off’ their demands.
We focus on the development of trust through creating greater understanding. Our approach builds greater personal and interpersonal awareness. It employs honest sharing in a way that transforms rather than creates conflict.
Key ingredients are self empathy and empathy, the capacity to be aware of and accept what is truly going on in ourselves and others.