Mediation and Facilitation Services

Offering mediation and facilitation services.

Specializing in conflicts involving ongoing relationships:

  • Family
  • Divorce/Parenting
  • Community
  • Neighbor-Neighbor
  • Workplace
  • ElderCare
  • Homeowners Associations

Why Mediation?

Conflict is inevitable but it doesn’t have to be destructive.  Mediation provides the best path to navigating difficult conflicts toward a win-win outcome.

Mediation offers numerous benefits.

  1. Mediation results in better outcomes. Studies indicate that people are generally happier with, and are more likely to adhere to, self-determined agreements made in mediation, than judicial imposed rulings.
  2. Mediation saves you money, time, and emotional energy. A lawsuit can cost thousands of dollars. Mediation generally costs less than an initial meeting with a lawyer. And mediation can take place on a faster time scale than the judicial process. Even if you prevail in court you will have spent time, money, and emotional energy that could be avoided with an agreement in mediation.
  3. Mediation is empowering.  In mediation, you get to decide the outcome. Your desires, feelings, needs are accounted for. You take responsibility for navigating the conflict and for the outcome.
  4. Mediation allows for creative options. Outcomes are possible in mediation that the legal system can not offer. For example, an out-of-the-norm parenting arrangement, an agreement for confidentiality, concessions (I’ll offer you this if you offer me that), or emotional gifts such as an apology.
  5. Mediation builds relationships.  In mediation, the goal is to work together to find a win-win outcome. The process of mediation is geared toward building relationships, whereas the legal system, with its adversarial framing, often disrupts relationships and decreases the chance of working together productively in the future.
  6. Mediation respects the heart. The ultimate goal of a mediation process is for all parties to leave feelings respected, acknowledged, and have their needs addressed. It is not about who is right and who is wrong, but rather working together to find a way to acknowledge and address everyone’s needs.
  7. Mediation is confidential.  Lawsuits are a matter of public record. Mediation is a confidential process.