E~merging Beyond is a mediation/conflict-resolution service offered by Pashta MaryMoon in Victoria, B.C. Canada.She was trained in Mediation/Third-party Intervention through both the Institute for Conflict Analysis and Management and the Justice Institute of B.C., and has been a general member of the South Island Dispute Resolution Centre Society.

Pashta primarily uses a Transformative and/or Interest-based Mediation style developing innovative ways to resolve conflicts between individuals that honour their personal values, beliefs, feelings and needs.Resolutions, woven from these qualities, are more likely to both be genuinely workable (re the specific problem) and provide a foundation for resolving any further conflicts in the future.They are based not on compromise or coercion but the best possible 'win-win' result for all those involved.

E~merging Beyond's particular focus is on interpersonal conflict resolution within small social-concerns non-profit organizations, and families dealing with difficult 'end of life' issues (see article or 'about Pashta' for more infomration on how this effects family members) but is open to mediation in other situations as well.However, please note that Pashta is not certified to deal with legal/litigation cases referred to mediation by the law courts.Please contact the services listed on the top part of the right-hand menu for court-mandated cases.

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The Metaphor/Symbology of Knots

Interpersonal conflict generally arises from multiple threads of misunderstandings, assumptions and expectations, judgments, personality-type differences, and cultural or personal values which are tangled into knots of frustration, anger, and/or hurt; and can eventually lead to deep-rooted mistrust.Some of the threads may be based on knots of past experience (either unacknowledged, or unrecognized as effecting the situation) that trigger positional and counter-productive responses to the specific conflict.

These are the kind of knots that bind us into negative or unproductive relationships.Sometimes, the threads become so knotted into a tangled web as with a ball of wool that several kittens have played with that it seems like it would be impossible to disentangle them!We are, then, tempted to assume that it would just be easier to just throw the 'ball of wool' (i.e. the relationship) away.

On the other hand, knots are also a metaphor for the inter-woven threads of family and community that weave a healthy, dynamic, and yet secure tapestry for our lives: marriage, for example, is often referred to as "tying the knot".These are the life-knots of understanding, compassion and empathy, trust, and honour.They represent a solid sense of belonging, and/or provide a firm loom upon which to weave a tapestry of creative and productive relationships.

Transformative and/or Interest-based Mediation is the process by which conflict-knots are untangled in which the threads are separated, assessed for their influence on the conflict situation, and clarified as to their source (misunderstandings/etc.).In the process, further threads may be revealed that neither party may have recognized as being tangled into the conflict-web.Once untangled, the threads can then be re-woven into a solution which is both secured into the trust-knots of new understanding/etc., and honours the needs and wishes of both people (or groups).

The decorative corner-knot used in the design of this website has a Celtic background.Most cultures, however, use knots as symbols of both the negative and positive kinds of inter-woven connectedness.

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The Name E~merging Beyond

"E~merging Beyond" is a play on words.Etymologically, the word emerge comes from emergere "rise out or up," from ex "out" + mergere "to dip, sink" and unresolved conflict situations often do feel like emotional and/or logistical sinkholes.The practical purpose of mediation is to emerge from the typical tangled web of confusions/mis~understandings/etc. that have lead to the conflict, with a workable solution.In Transformative or Interested-based Mediation, however, the longer-term goal is to find common values, and develop understanding and empathy between the two people/groups and therefore, (re) merge (positive synonyms combine, connect, meld, join, tie in, unite) the relationship into a more creative and productive tapestry.

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Our thanks to Skeena hosting services as well as
GRsites for on-line graphics services and backgrounds
"Eos" for text background

E-merging Beyond , and its sister-sites En~chanting Beyond, and Journeying Beyond are sponsored by VIBES
(Vancouver Island Beyond-the-Everday Services)