Official URL: https://www.maynoothuniversity.ie/edward-m-kennedy...

When I started practice as a mediator in Ireland in 1986, conflict intervention theory for analysis and practice was scarce. We relied on John Haynes’ writing and workshops to develop critical thinking and skills in our work. Systems theory, with its link with family therapy and the systemic ideas that have developed from it, was adapted by Haynes and Fong to offer a holistic framework within which to place mediation, in particular family mediation. Systems theory, analysis, skills and practice are no less relevant today. We have therefore republished an article by Jon Amundson and Larry Fong on “Systemic/ Strategic Aspects and Potentials in the Haynes Model of Divorce Mediation”. This article builds on the article “New Paradigms in Mediation: Thinking About Our Thinking” published in the 2017(2) edition of this journal in which Fong sets out the basics of this theory’s application to mediation.