Written by timdyer on April 15, 2011
What is mediation? Mediation is a facilitated process for dealing with interpersonal conflicts. It is conciliatory rather than adversarial in nature. Mediation is based on trust and encourages honest open communication and collaboration to reach an outcome which as far as possible meets the needs of both parties. Mediation involves a structured process of listening, offering and receiving apologies and forgiveness for hurts, clarifying the key issues, exploring the issues as thoroughly as possible, and reaching agreement on an outcome or a way forward. The progress is usually recorded in a documented agreement which both parties are asked to sign as an indication of trust and goodwill. The mediators are usually trained for this ministry. Participants often bring a support person along with them.