What does family mediation involve?
Many people may first decide to seek out a mediator because their solicitor has suggested mediation. Or they may have read about mediation online, or been recommended to it by a friend. They may have a general idea about what mediation involves. For many people the first question is how do I get into mediation, or how do we start it. In this blog we outline the 5 steps to get mediation started. We hope that this simple guide will show you how easy it is to begin, so that you can then reap the benefits of improved communication, and finding a quicker, and therefore cheaper resolution.
1. Making the first contact
The first step is getting in touch with the mediator to let them know you would like to try mediation. Here at LKW Family Mediation this can be done by phone with a call to 01306 646690, or by email to louisa@lkwfamilymediation.co.uk or you can message us through our Facebook page www.facebook.com/lkwfamilymediation or you can DM us through our twitter account @LKWFamMed. We wouldn’t recommend a public post or tweet for obvious reasons!
2. Getting the details
The mediator will take some basic details from you and answer any questions that you may have.
3. Sending the form
Our mediator will then send you a form to complete called the Mediation Information Form. It is a short form that is just designed to give the mediator some basic initial details. Once you’ve completed it send it to the mediator. This can be done by post or email – whichever is easiest for you.
4. The Initial Meeting
The mediator will then meet with each party individually (and this meeting can be arranged at step 2 if you want to get started quickly). The purpose of this meeting is to explain more about mediation, to get some further background information, and to check if mediation would be suitable (there are very few reasons why it wouldn’t be).
5. Finding your resolution
Once you’ve both met with the mediator individually then you can arrange a meeting when you will both be present. This enables you to start the process of finding your tailor made resolution.
The time between steps 1 and 5 can be as short or as long as you both would like. Sometimes both parties want to get cracking and sometimes it can take a bit of time. The only important thing is that matters move at a pace that BOTH parties are happy with.
For more information about mediation then please get in touch using any of the details at step 1.