In his decades long quest to find effective ways of helping angry and emotional clients in mediation, Mr. Noll took every communication and listening course he could find. None of them worked satisfactorily in intense conflict situations.
In 2005, by happenstance and good fortune, Mr. Noll stumbled upon the foundational idea of listening to emotions. Within moments of applying this radical new idea with a divorced couple enraged at each other, they calmed down. Amazingly, they resolved their dispute and left to have lunch together.
While he knew that what he had discovered was counter-intuitive and radical, a seminal brain scanning study conducted by neuroscientist Matthew Lieberman and his team at UCLA explained why reflecting emotions (called affect labeling) worked.
Lieberman showed that affect labeling shut down a feedback loop between the amygdala and the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, which had an immediate calming effect on the subject being scanned. Since then, a variety of studies have demonstrated the efficacy of affect labeling as a means of implicit emotional regulation.
Over the past 15 years, Mr. Noll has developed a systematic way to train others in these skills. The Noll Affect Labeling System™ is the foundational skill of Prison of Peace, an award-winning project that trains life inmates to be mediators and peacemakers in violent prison communities. Senior Analysts of the US Congressional Budget Office have been trained in this system to better communicate with members of Congress and their staff. Finally, thousands of professionals, including lawyers, mediators, pastors, coaches, teachers, and counselors of all types have found these skills to be invaluable in their professional practice.