Promoting collaborative and equity-informed conflict resolution.
It’s Time to Catch Up…February 21, 4:30-6 pm
McMennamins Broadway Pub (Map)
Third Party Neutral buys the beer for the first half hour!
Come join us on February 21st for a No Host Debrief networking happy hour. Get acquainted, catch up on all the news since the conference, or just swap war stories.
These events are open for all mediators, related professionals, and anyone who is interested.
Welcome to the first installment of The Self-Care Series! I’m excited to begin a year-long journey of empowering OMA members with self-care skills and habits. Our goal for this series is to provide you with simple, practical, and effective strategies that will help increase your capacity to fulfill your purpose in work and in life.
Mediation is a meaningful, rewarding, challenging, and demanding career. Your focus and attention are non-negotiable as you navigate tension, stress, and intense emotions. You are committed to and uphold the Core Standards of Mediation Practice. You assist people and organizations in resolving controversy and finding peace.
Your work is important, and the stakes are high.
Successful mediators are adept at maintaining focus and energy in high-pressure situations and have the ability to recover from stress, challenges, and setbacks. In other words, mediators need to be resilient.
When you are resilient you:
If your focus, energy, and resilience are lagging, your effectiveness and success as a mediator is impaired. One of the best strategies for building resilience is to establish healthy self-care habits that address your physical, emotional, spiritual, and mental well-being.
Self-Care Defined
Self-care is more than hitting the gym regularly, getting an occasional massage, or having a night out with friends to let off steam. Sure, these activities can all be part of a healthy lifestyle. But true self-care is deeper. True self-care matches your core values and personal needs with your everyday habits and routines.
Self-care is as much a mindset as it is a thing you do. You have to believe that prioritizing care for yourself is an essential (mindset), and you have to follow through by doing the things that nourish, energize, and rejuvenate you (habits and routines).
Scientists have proven that the body, mind, and spirit are connected, and they all need your care. There is a saying (attributed to many sources) that says, “The way you do anything is the way you do everything.” In the context of self-care, tending to any aspect of your well-being will benefit your whole self.
Nurturing Your Resilience with Self-Care
Passionate professionals dedicated to their work often push self-care to the bottom of their to-do list. This unhealthy tendency creates a vicious cycle that eventually turns into a downward spiral. You may experience mental and physical health issues, poor sleep, depression, disengagement, anger, anxiety, and burnout that impact your life well beyond your profession.
You can avoid the downward spiral or reverse its direction (if you’re already in it) by making self-care a priority. In the coming months, I’ll share simple habits and habit-change techniques to increase your resilience and overall well-being. We’ll talk about:
We’ll also learn how to stay accountable to your habits and how to make lifestyle changes that last (spoiler: willpower is not the answer).
A Self-Care Resolution
If you’re the kind of person who makes New Year’s resolutions, consider a commitment to self-care. Allow it to be a year-long (lifelong, really) pursuit that happens in small steps and incremental changes. That way you won’t “fail” by February and give up like 92% of all resolvers do.
It’s easy to make an intention or set a goal, but without structure it’s also easy to let your deep desire dissolve into a wish that never comes true. Give yourself a SMART goal – one that is Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Timely. Get an accountability partner to help you succeed. Tell others about your commitment and you will be more likely to follow through.
What will be your self-care goal for 2019?
About the Author
Kirstin Pinit teaches the art of self-care through creative, engaging, and practical habit-change programs. She is a certified coach and yoga teacher and consults with cities, communities, companies, and groups on behavior-change programs and strategies. Learn more about her work at www.kirstinpinit.com.
Dear OMA Members, Stakeholders, Colleagues and Friends,
Forty years ago today, a visionary group of four incorporators came together to start the Oregon Mediation Association (OMA). It must have been a celebration when the Articles of Incorporation were filed with the Corporate Commissioner of the State of Oregon on July 11, 1986.
I imagine because of OMA’s Mission and Purpose that they were bound by a shared conviction: that peaceful conflict resolution is essential to a thriving society, and that mediators need a professional home to support, develop, and advocate for this vital craft. Today, as we celebrate OMA’s 40th anniversary, that mission remains our north star.
Today Oregon’s conflict resolution support network is strong! Because of Oregon’s Community Resolution Centers, as of 2025, according to Resolution Oregon’s website, “72 percent of mediated cases were resolved due to 354 Pro bono mediators who served 16,729 people equating to 27 million dollars of downstream cost savings for housing stability cases alone! This does not include the statewide court connected programs and private mediators. WOW! What an impact.
As mediators, we know that conflict is a natural catalyst for growth. We naturally view the world through different lenses, and it is expected that we will not always agree on the path forward. Disagreement within our community isn’t a sign of weakness—it is proof of our passion. What sets us apart is how we navigate those differences. We possess the unique tools to engage with mutual respect, patience, and kindness, even when the tension is high.
As those before me, leading an organization with a history as rich as ours requires balancing a multitude of perspectives with the operational realities of governance. OMA’s board members are often tasked with reviewing complex data, legal compliance and resource constraints that are not always visible from the outside. Because of these finite resources and the structural responsibilities they carry, it is a hard truth that not every opinion or preferred direction can be implemented.
If a decision is made to move in a different direction, it is never a dismissal of your voice; it is the result of weighing among many things, volunteer availability, compliance, and long-term strategic health of our association. Sometimes what may seem as a hard no, is in reality a no, not now because….
OMA’s mission and primary activities are what rally us together.
Mission:
The Oregon Mediation Association is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization of members committed to the development, support and advocacy of mediation in the state of Oregon.
Primary Activities:
The power of mediation lies in finding common ground amid varying views of many passionate supporters, and that principle must guide our internal community just as fiercely as it guides our practice.
I am deeply confident in the future of OMA and the direction we are heading. Let us use this milestone anniversary to recommit to our foundational goals, to trust in the process, and to stand united in our service to Oregon.
Thank you for your dedication, your diverse perspectives, and your continued commitment to OMA. We look forward to seeing you at the OMA annual conference.
With strength and gratitude,
Stephanie Leffler
President, Oregon Mediation Association
It’s that time of year! ALL members will renew dues in December and January for 2019, regardless of when you joined.
Stay a part of the conversation! Renew today!
If you renewed joined or your membership after September 1, your dues are good through 12/31/2019
Questions about your membership status? Email the OMA Administrative Assistant, Jamie Anderson, at jamie@ORmediation.org.