Facilitation | Skills Development | Mediation
When trust is low and the stakes are high, mediation can help. Mediation is a process that enables each side to say what needs to be said, to hear and understand and resolve differences in mutually acceptable ways. If you are stuck in a disagreement that feels hopeless, and your options for resolving it seem limited, mediation can provide a safe place to find solutions when you just didn’t think it was possible.
Initially trained in mediation in 1985, Susan has been certified as a mediator of court-referred cases in the state of Virgina since the inception of that program in 1993.
Her experience as a mediator includes:
- Workplace disputes
- Contract negotiations between management and labor
- Contract disputes including business partnerships
- Community issues including Home Owner Associations, and other neighborhood disputes
- Equal Employment Opportunity complaints filed by employees against federal agencies at both informal and formal stages of the process.
Why Mediate?
For many people mediation is an appealing process because it can save time and money. The court system is notoriously slow, legal fees can be prohibitively expensive. In addition to the opportunity to save time and money, the real benefit of mediation is in the quality of the outcome. The mediator is not deciding who is right or wrong, or making decisions about solutions. The people themselves create solutions, which are generally more creative than any a judge could impose. The results are much more likely to resolve the underlying issues of the dispute.
And because the people themselves have reached agreement, compliance and implementation rates are remarkably high. Decisions imposed from the outside by a judge or arbitrator often create their own set of problems, as people avoid following through on decisions or begin the next battle from the ashes of the first.
When long-term relationships are involved, those relationships are often repaired, or restored. People work together to find mutually acceptable solutions, rather than as adversaries attempting to establish blame and fault. This is a process that is designed to end in a handshake. Each person is focused on the future, on where to go from here, not the past.
How can the process be both voluntary AND binding?
People participating in mediation are not compelled to reach any decisions through the process. Any decisions that are reached or commitments that are made are voluntary. However, when a contract is written and signed during mediation, it can be enforceable in the same way that any negotiated contract can.
The Protection of Confidentiality
Issues discussed in mediation are often sensitive, and it can feel risky to open difficult conversations. To ensure the safety of the mediation process, the state of Virginia has protected mediator confidentiality. As a mediator certified for court-referred cases in the state, Susan can reassure participants that she will not be reporting to others outside the mediation what is said during discussions nor will she testify in any further legal proceedings. While there are a few exceptions to this confidentiality – which are fully disclosed at the beginning of the mediation - this assurance of confidentiality is one of the foundations of a safe, effective process.
