WHERE CAN I FIND MORE INFORMATION ABOUT MEDIATION?

I’m often asked where to find more information about the practice of mediation, so I’ve compiled a short list of websites I find to be the most helpful: 

My first recommendation is the website mediate.com. This well established resopurce is perhaps the most complete with everything from mediator listings to a library of articles and videos about mediation.

To see if there is a community mediation program near you, visit the “Locate a Member” page at the National Association for Community Mediation.

For accessible and useable information on all aspects of family mediation, visit the “Resources for Families” page at the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts.

State courts offer information on state divorce law, court rules and family law forms. To find your state’s website, start at the National Center for State Courts.

For help finding a family mediator, visit the Academy of Professional Family Mediators.

For large business and legal disputes, visit JAMS, which provides retired judges and retired and practicing attorneys as mediators. Also visit the American Arbitration Association.

These days I’m also asked if one can still get trained to be a mediator during Covid-19 restrictions. I am just now completing a class for new volunteers at a community mediation center so, yes, it can be done. 

In 1975 there were about a dozen community mediation programs; today there are an estimated 450 or more mediation centers handling some half a million disputes annually. Another important service community mediation programs provide is mediation training, which is available to anyone in the community. Like their services, the classes are low or no cost. Be sure to check your state’s requirement for being a mediator. Most likely the requirements will include a 30 or 40 hour basic mediation course of training to get started. Many of the community mediation programs are now offering that training via Zoom. After you find a program, but before you start, I highly recommend becoming competent using Zoom. The Zoom Help Center is good place to start.

Because of Covid restrictions much of today’s mediations are conducted on Zoom. Mediators and disputants alike are finding it easy to use and the mediation process adapts well to the platform. Even when Covid is in our history, there will still be many mediations conducted via Zoom, as it has so many advantages with comparable success and satisfaction ratings to face-to-face mediations. 

I shared with the group completing my mediation class on Zoom that they have an advantage over people who have completed the training earlier. They not only have the training, but they also have the skills to conduct mediations remotely.