Mediation
Mediation is way of resolving a conflict that allows you, the people in the dispute, to decide the outcome. The goal is to facilitate a mutual decision of what is best under the circumstances. It is about looking at the situation, hearing your own truth as well as the truth of others involved, examining options and choosing how to proceed.
I believe that people know what is best for themselves and are fully capable of making their own decisions. Mediation allows for a thorough exploration of possible outcomes and consequences of the options. Then, you – each participant – can make a fully informed decision, and through conscious choice, create the outcome.
As mediator, my role is to help you examine the situation and its alternatives. I provide a safe, respectful environment for your conversation. I encourage you to speak your truth. I participate without emotion or judgment as I guide you on your path to communication, conciliation, and resolution. I listen, reflect, and ask questions.
My questions are aimed at understanding your thoughts, feelings and perspective on the situation. As you articulate these for me, you hear them for yourself, and can refine them to reflect your viewpoint with precision. As I listen, the other side hears it, too. Then we focus on their perspective in the same way. As each gets clearer, shifts take place that allow for balance, communication and mutual understanding.
When each person to a conversation knows she is heard and is willing to listen, there is balance. When each person clearly says what he means, and does so in a way that is heard and understood, there is open communication. Balance supports open communication; open communication, in turn, restores balance. Balance and communication lead to resolution.