History of Strained Middle
Strained Middle was founded by Dan Berstein, a mediator who was inspired by his own lifetime of difficult family estrangements, in order to provide tools to help families cope with difficult times.
Strained Middle offers resources to help all parties caught in estrangements cope with the fallout and make the most of their lives and relationships.
Dan became a mediator after years of trying to resolve family estrangements. He started Strained Middle to help all family members caught in the middle of difficult times.
Dan was split from one relative or another since age nine, during his parents’ tumultuous divorce that led to him growing up apart from his two younger sisters.
He encountered even more difficulties as he was challenged with mental health problems, which sometimes caused him to lose relationships.
At first, Dan hoped that becoming a mediator would give him tools to resolve these seemingly intractable conflicts. He learned important skills and was able to create periods of peace for his family – but the instability kept returning.
Thus he realized the importance of removing the day-to-day pressures for resolution. Instead, Strained Middle addresses the chronic pains of estrangements while developing sustainable boundaries that work for everyone involved.
If we can’t end the cycle of estrangement, lets’s enhance everyone’s day-to-day in the meantime.
We can all feel better along the way.
Strained Middle offers a variety of resources including our Empathy Agreement model for helping families be supportive toward one another from afar during estrangements.