CAN MEDIATION HELP COUPLES IN CONFLICT?

Every relationship will experience conflict.

If the parties want help in dealing with their dispute, and desire to repair their relationship, they might consider counseling or mediation.

Couple counseling or couple therapy employs psychotherapy to help with relationship dysfunction and establish new behavior patterns to improve their daily lives. Therapy is an extended process that tends to go into the history of the relationship.

In contrast, mediation helps couples deal with specific issues. In one or a few sessions, relationship mediation helps the parties define problems, discuss workable options, and make decisions about the future, which may be separation, divorce, or may be a revision and renewal of their relationship. Mediators do not focus on the past, but focus on the future.

Mediators who specialize in relationship mediation will most likely identify themselves as Marital Mediators. Others who do relationship mediation may identify themselves as Family Mediators. Relationship Mediators are not judges or arbitrators who will impose a decision on the parties. They are trained to be impartial and non-confrontational, to build trust, and to maintain confidentiality.

Typically, one party takes the initiative to suggest mediation and its advantages. Once contacted, the mediator will first speak with both parties to determine their willingness to participate. No party can be forced to do so.

Fred’s most recent book, “How to Survive a Mediation,” is available at Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and wherever books are sold.