Elizabeth Bader’s work focuses on the role of issue of “face” or “ego” in mediation.
Elizabeth was the first person to identify the IDR cycle — the cycle of ego-inflation, ego-deflation and realistic resolution (assuming the case settles) that occurs during the negotiation and mediation of civil disputes.
Her first major article on the subject, “The Psychology of Mediation: Issues of Self and Identity and the IDR Cycle,” reviews psychology, developmental psychoanalytic theory, neuroscience, social science and the conflict resolution literature to explain why and how the cycle occurs. It was published in 2010 in the Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal.
Another version of her work, “Self, Identity and the IDR Cycle: Understanding the Deeper Meaning of ‘Face’ in Mediation,” was published in 2011 in the International Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies, an international peer-reviewed journal.
In 2015, Elizabeth published The Psychology and Neurobiology of Mediation, an article in the Cardozo Dispute Resolution Journal integrating her findings on the IDR cycle with neurobiology, especially the work of Peter Levine and Stephen Porges. This article deals extensively with trauma and mediation.
Elizabeth was awarded the Margaret S. Mahler Psychiatric Research Foundation’s Literature Prize on the basis of her articles. In Europe, her work has been used to help “train the trainers” on the psychology of mediation.
The importance of Elizabeth’s discovery has been confirmed by many other mediators and scholars.
Elizabeth’s article,”The Psychology and Neurobiology of Mediation,” in the Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution, integrates the work of Stephen Porges and Peter Levine (Somatic Experiencing®) on the neurobiology of trauma, with spirituality, neuroscience and the psychology of mediation.
Understanding the psychology of spiritual groups requires understanding group psychology and the unique challenges of the spiritual path. In many ways our path to spiritual maturity follows the IDR cycle, as we learn to move from idealization of ourselves and our teachers to spiritual maturity.
A discussion of a core psychological dynamic in mediation: the IDR cycle. Based on Elizabeth’s articles on the subject, including The Psychology of Mediation: Issues of Self and Identity and the IDR Cycle, 10(2) Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal 183 (2010) and The Psychology and Neurobiology of Mediation, 17(2) Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution 363 (Winter 2106).
A directory of posts on this blog that discuss mediation by integrating psychology, neurobiology (especially the neurobiology of trauma) and spirituality.
Elizabeth Bader speaks about the profound lessons conflict resolution can teach us about peace and who we are. A blend of psychology, spirituality and neuroscience, including the work of Stephen Porges, Tali Sharot and Peter Levine.
In this introduction to Elizabeth Bader’s article on the psychology and neurobiology of mediation, Elizabeth recounts the experience as a mediator which informs all of her work, and lays the foundation for the more technical discussion which follows.
A key to the neurobiology of mediation: parties in mediation experience both threat and safety at the same time. This is one of the most important sections of Elizabeth Bader’s new article, The Psychology and Neurobiology of Mediation.”
In this post, Tim Hicks presents his reflections on the neuroscience of mediation, knowing and identity and the IDR Cycle in mediation. He explains that the psychological experience that the IDR cycle theory describes (inflation, deflation, realistic resolution) is well-supported by what we believe to be true of the neurophysiology of learning, knowing, memory, and identity. His commentary ties the three phases of the cycle to some of the basic aspects of embodied consciousness. (For current research on embodied mind, see, for example, work by Don Tucker, Gerard Edelman, Antonio Damasio, Ben Bergen, Lawrence Barsalou, Vittorio Gallese, Mark Johnson, George Lakoff and David Geary ).
An illustrated version of an article about the IDR Cycle, the psychological cycle of ego-inflation (overconfidence), ego-deflation and realistic resolution typically experienced by parties during the mediation of civil disputes. Originally published on mediate.com, this article provides a simpler explanation of the cycle than those found in Elizabeth’s academic writings.
When mediators work on resolving conflicts, they often face challenges to their own egos. Discusses the “professional ego ideal,” mindfulness and more.
