About Gordon Murray

You will find that most mediators tend to have a background in law. Often they practiced previously as lawyers or solicitors and many still do. Unusually, I don’t come from a law background. I worked for a long time in theatre and in higher education. I work with communities to help them articulate and tell their stories, I’ve had a long collaborative relationship for example with veterans who had worked on the British nuclear weapons tests in the 1950’s and are campaigning for recognition and justice. Some of the results of that work can be found here. I presented a radio 4 programme on their experiences. I still work sometimes as a university lecturer. I’d like to draw out a little here the reasons that I think this background gives me distinct skills and attributes that make me a good mediator…..

Change

Theatre and education are both predicated on the idea of change; getting an individual to change their viewpoint or reflecting and intervening in the way the world is constantly changing. The focus is not on the world being but on becoming. As a mediator my job is to help clients to look at the future and consider how they would like things to be rather than looking at the past and how things are. My expertise is in helping people find areas where change is possible and facilitating the ability to make changes happen. Another advantage of this background is that I’m trained to look below the surface, to find out not what people think or say they need but what they actually need. It may seem obvious but often people realising what they actually need is the moment of unlocking a situation and moving forward to a settlement.

Empathy

When Aristotle laid out the rules of theatre he made it clear that empathy was the fundamental aspect. Empathy is the ability to feel for and with another person, to see things from their point of view. This does not mean agreeing with or accepting that point of view but at least accepting that they have one and for them it is valid. This is key to all mediation.

These things have been part of my habitual practice for the last 30 years and are the reasons that people feel comfortable and safe in my mediations sessions.

I am a good listener.

I am an accredited member of the Civil Mediation Council and the College of Mediators. I am also a keen advocate of Peer Mediation which is the use of mediation in schools, where pupils are trained as mediators and work with their peers to resolve disputes.

"What was noticeable (in retrospect) about Gordon was the way in which he encouraged people to see the benefit of not being entrenched in their own attitude and to see change as a positive thing – concentrating on the future rather than the past."

Paul Murray

Director, Yes and Consultants