Learn how a professional mediator can help families manage conflict and disruption at the end of life and why it’s important.
About the guest:
My special guest Molly Darsow is a mediator who specialized in helping families navigate conflict related to aging parent, elder care, guardianship, end-of-life decisions, estate disputes, and other complex family transitions. She is the founder of Still Waters Mediation and shares why mediation is a valuable tool for navigating conflict at end of life and how to utilize it. Learn more at her website:
In this episode:
- What mediation is and how it helps with resolution of issues
- Why conflicts arise naturally at end of life
- How grief contributes to conflict by decreasing ability to empathize with one another
- Why the legal system may actually amplify conflict
- Underlying issues that arise at end of life most often involve roles and old ways of coping and relating
- Mediators don’t offer therapy but do need to understand family dynamics
- How caregiver contracts that include compensation can help avoid resentment later
- Different styles of handling grief can also contribute to conflicts
- How our past narratives can perpetuate conflict in the present time
- What does it take to become a mediator
- How mediation training can benefit people in other professions
- Success as a mediator requires being able to keep yourself in a calm and neutral state
Links for this episode:
Resources
- Register for The Death Inside the Death Telesummit
- Estate Transition: An Important Part of End-of-Life Planning with Dan Stickel
- The Death Deck as a conversation starter
Related episodes
- Settling Estate Issues After the Death of a Loved One with Matthew Van Drimmelen
- Dealing with Anger at the End of Life with Barbara Karnes RN
- Managing Family Conflict at the End of Life
Other links
- 7 Lessons for Living from the Dying by Karen Wyatt MD
- Latest post on Substack: Letting Go of Guilt
- What Really Matters Podcast: How Do I Forgive Myself?
- Leave me a message by email: kwyattmd@comcast.net, Twitter, Facebook or Instagram
- Support your local bookstore by buying my books on Bookshop and Indiebound: 7 Lessons for Living from the Dying and The Journey from Ego to Soul
- Join the team at Patreon.com/eolu
- Buy me a coffee
- Donate on Paypal
If you enjoy this content please share it with others and consider leaving a review on iTunes. Thanks again to all supporters on my page at Patreon.com/eolu, especially my latest supporter Jordan Toy, and thanks to everyone who has bought me a coffee or made a donation on Paypal! Your contributions make all the difference and ensure this podcast stays ad-free.