An Invitation
to an Extraordinary
Process
He would meet me at the door and lead me into his study. . . After sitting
down there was always a silence—not a tense silence, uneasy as between two people who were not sure of each other, but
a silence of expectation. This was not consciously agreed between us. It was a flow of peace and trust forming
a prelude to speech. The silence was the silence of communication. (Aubrey Hodes, reporting on
his conversations with Martin Buber, 1972.)
Mediation is the art of facilitating dispute resolution through a
dynamic process by which a neutral, third party manages communication and negotiation between parties in conflict.
The mediation process is governed by the belief
that the failure of communication serves as the number one basis for continuing conflict. The mediator’s primary job is therefore to cultivate
a “flow of peace and trust” that is the precursor
to effective communication, by bridging the gap where trust collapsed in the first instance and could not be restored by the
parties without neutral, outside help.
On this bridge, expertly suspended and
held by the mediator between the parties in conflict, the parties have an opportunity to meet, during the space of the mediation,
not just to ‘talk’ but to effectively communicate.
The mediation process thus creates a safe meeting space
where the parties are empowered to
- share with one another their opinions on issues and the
important values that each holds that serve as the bases for those opinions;
- uncover previously unfathomed means of maximizing material,
emotional, physically, psychological, and/or spiritual benefits for all
involved;
- explore rich opportunities for their own growth and healing; and
- begin to establish or restore peace, within themselves as well as between one another.Top
