WHAT NON-MEDIATORS WORRY ABOUT

I was recently teaching a new course for volunteer mediators and asked the class what they thought might be the most difficult thing to learn about mediation. Their answers suggested what non-mediators usually consider reoccurring challenges.

For example, a frequent response was how best to “deal with emotions.” When pressed for more details, most said they expected participants in mediation to be emotional and were concerned they’d be unprepared to sufficiently address those feelings.

The second most frequent response dealt with staying neutral. Many were concerned about avoiding taking sides and how to appear, and in fact be, neutral. Others worried about being too transparent and unable to hide their reactions to the conflicts being discussed .

And lastly, those with some knowledge of mediation, worried about having to be the decision-maker and being unable to effectlively tell participants what to do.

These concerns are all legitimate, but mediation training programs address them all. Mediation is at the heart a skill that can be learned, and when developed, can be applied to both formal mediation and informal dispute resolutions.