Mediation is facilitation of a dialogue to resolve a conflict. It is a voluntary process in which people in a conflict situation meet with a trained impartial person — a mediator. The mediator helps both sides listen to each other and, without deciding who is right or wrong, assists the participants in reaching their own agreement.

Mediation (or facilitation) can take many forms depending on the type of situation. In general for the situations we mediate, there is an intake process where we assess who should be involved in the face-to-face session and their willingness to participate. If all are willing, then we schedule a session with the appropriate mediators at a convenient time. In most cases the mediation will take approximately 2 hours, possibly less. Some situations may need another session but again that is for the participants to decide.

The types of situations we mediate include:

• School discipline issues and early-stage PPT facilitation.
• Family conflicts such as visitation and personal property division, parent-teen, and elder care.
• Neighbor and property-related disputes, including from condo associations and housing authorities as well as police departments.
• Court-referred cases, such as in juvenile criminal court, adult courts and Child Protection cases.