How Mediation Works

1. Connect with us

We will seek to understand the basics about your situation, your needs, and your concerns, so that we can design an appropriate process.

We gather information in a way that facilitates our neutrality and respects the autonomy of parties.

Our commitment is to all parties equally, the relationship between the parties, and the process itself.

2. Logistical Decisions

The mediation can take place in our downtown office, in your office or home, or in any space of your choosing which provides privacy and limitation from distractions.

Our downtown Charlottesville, Virginia office features two separate spaces approximately equal in size and appropriate for parties that wish to utilize shuttle mediation processes.

If your dispute is legal in nature and you prefer to bring an attorney with you for consultation or to speak on your behalf, that desire will be fully supported. We are happy to coordinate with attorneys at all stages of the process.

3. Mediation

We guide you through a simple, reliable process designed to assist you in communicating about your conflict, yet the mediation is uniquely yours. It is completely voluntary, and can be ended at any time by either side.

Our role is to listen, ask questions, clarify, and understand what each side is saying in order to facilitate communication. We do not evaluate, make judgments, or take sides in any way.

4. What’s Asked of You

We ask that you commit to engage in the process in good faith; that entails being honest, open, fair, and willing to discuss all relevant information.

We ask that you do your best to present your perspective and make a sincere effort to try to consider and understand the views of the other party.

Providing a space where people can discuss things deeply without fear of being judged by outsiders allows for deep discussion, which is fertile ground for solutions. Mediations are confidential, though signed agreements are usually not.

5. Agreement Implementation

Our process is geared towards creating practical solutions for real-world problems, and if needed/desired, providing follow-up services to support ensuring agreements are successfully implemented and workable for the parties’ lives. Your desire to want to implement an agreement, because it is yours and you believe in it, is the goal of the mediation and will be given the utmost respect. This is your agreement and your process, and you will never experience pressure or coercion to agree to something that doesn’t feel right.

6. Intrinsic Benefits

It’s important to note that not all mediations reach agreement, and that is absolutely okay. People who participate in mediation’s that don’t move into the agreement stage often still experience benefits associated with being able to clearly present their perspective and hear the other’s in a calm, controlled setting, and they may still experience improvements in communication.