The needs-based approach to dispute resolution.

In most disputes, people arrive at the table ready to defend their positions. Each side insists on being right, believing justice lies in persuading the other to give in. Yet, after nearly two decades of practicing alternative dispute resolution (ADR), I have realised that genuine resolution seldom emerges from entrenched positions. What truly restores peace is not argument but understanding. Not what people want, but what they need. A needs-based approach to mediation draws on Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of human needs. It shifts focus from demands to the deeper motivations that drive conflict. While Maslow's model recognises our physical and psychological needs, my experience suggests an additional layer: our spiritual needs, including the need to forgive and to be forgiven. When mediation touches this dimension, it moves beyond settlement and becomes restoration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]