Among the four types of meditation there several approaches. But the mission of all mediation is the same. Mediation gets people unstuck from a conflict dynamic. The different types of meditation reach this goal in distinct ways. Understanding these four mediation types may also help you decide which suits you best.
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What Mediation Can Do
Stuck in a relationship cycle or stalemate? It could be a family or business conflict, either way, the mediation process can help. Mediators find ways to inspire change in the dynamic between parties. Whether you want a written agreement or to understand each other better, mediation helps you make progress.
Four Types of Mediation
Let’s look into four types of mediation. There’s a bit of overlap between some of these styles. But they are also quite distinct. No matter how different these methods are in practice, all mediation serves clients in conflict, just in different ways.
Two Perspectives
Mediation methods come from two perspectives, neutral ground and expertise. When it comes to expertise, experts engage directive and evaluative mediation techniques. These types of mediation focus on specific, often legal, settlements and involve specialists, like lawyers or accountants.
By contrast, a neutral mediator uses facilitative and transformative methods. These two alternate types of mediation may refer clients to an outside expert. But they don’t approach the mediation from the viewpoint of an expert. Instead, they stay impartial and reserve judgement.
Neutral Ground Mediation Definitions
Understanding distinctions between mediation styles may help you find a mediator to match your situation. The following sections each explain four separate definitions of mediation and how they function. Let’s start with the two neutral ground types of mediation. These are facilitative and transformative mediation.
Neutral mediations like these can be especially useful to parents involved in custody and family disputes. They’re also helpful for business partnership and employment disputes.
Mediators who use neutral ground strategies help parties understand each other. That’s why neutral mediators often serve disputants who are likely to maintain a relationship. These mediators are less concerned about parties reaching a legal or contractual agreement. They’re more focused on helping them transform their perspectives and relationship dynamic.
This shift in perspective and newfound understanding often results in neutral ground mediation clients coming to an agreement. Though it’s a common conclusion, agreement isn’t the goal in neutral ground mediation.
Facilitative Mediation – A Neutral Type of Mediation
Facilitative mediation helps clients reach their own resolution. These mediations encourage clear and open communication between disputants. Facilitators guide the parties toward a greater understanding and agreed upon conclusions.
In this traditional style of mediation, the mediator promotes an honest discussion. Facilitative mediators ask astute questions to help parties understand each other’s experience and values. Parties share their perspectives and work on active listening. During facilitative sessions, disputants reach their own voluntary solution while the mediator remains neutral.
In these mediation sessions facilitators eschew judgements, decisions or even recommendations. Facilitation grants thoughtful space and time for the participants to share. Unlike arbitration, facilitative mediation, focuses more on the parties’ needs and wants than the law. After all, facilitative mediators aren’t lawyers. They’re trained to help clients build to an agreed upon conclusion that’s ideal for them.
Transformative Mediation – A Neutral Type of Mediation
Transformative mediation works well with facilitative mediation. In fact, they’re similar types of mediation and often employed together. While the facilitative method focuses on developing understanding, transformative pushes to change the underlying dynamic. This process usually works with a neutral mediator, just as facilitation does.
The transformative mediator helps parties face underlying issues and improve their interactions. Mediating according to the transformative method creates constructive change in the dynamic. The mediator listens with curiosity and engages disputants in open sharing. A neutral mediator helps parties understand each other’s needs, goals, and interests.
Each participant has uninterrupted time at the beginning. Starting this way helps each party express their perspective on the conflict. The mediator clarifies matters with questions. This helps organize the session and keep it on track.
This process helps parties develop skills for constructive change in their dynamic. It empowers communication and encourages understanding between disputants. That can lead to cooperation between them and often inspires shared goals.
The mediator notes, and moderates these objectives to keep them concrete and specific. For instance, We’d like to meet for an hour every first weekend of the month as a group to improve our communication. With the help of the mediator these parties can then discuss the rules for these meetings. They may even followup with the mediator after a few meetings to make adjustments or a new plan.
Expertise Mediation Definitions
Settlement-focused mediation (like directive and evaluative) focus on reaching a definitive deal. That means the mediator makes judgements, shares opinions, and works with one party’s interests in mind.
Directive Mediation – An Expertise Type of Mediation
Directive mediation works in the opposite way facilitative mediation does. A directive evaluative mediator isn’t neutral. They make recommendations and share opinions about the conflict. Directive mediators point out strengths and weaknesses of each position based on law and facts. It’s not unusual for a directive mediator to also practice law.
In fact, sometimes directive mediation works within the court system. These mediations may even be court-ordered. This contrasts with transformative and facilitative mediations, which are voluntary. Directive discussions point toward a signed agreement. Mediators who use a directive style care most about getting a signed deal. They’re not as focused on their client’s underlying interests and instead work toward settlement.
This directive perspective impacts the nature of the discussion between parties. While facilitative and transformative mediations consider feelings and needs, directives don’t. Understanding this difference may help you choose which type of mediation suits your goals best. You might consider whether you plan to communicate with the other party afterward. If so, a neutral party style may suit you best. Otherwise, you may seek out an expert.
Let’s explore evaluative mediation next. This type of conflict resolution also includes mediator expertise and shared opinions.
Evaluative Mediation – An Expertise Type of Mediation
Evaluative mediation has an apt name. These mediators assess client conflicts. They judge the strengths and weaknesses of each party’s position. This type of mediation often involves lawyers or other experts who offer guidance.
All the kinds of mediation might include some evaluative sessions. That’s because conflict sometimes gets complicated and an expert opinion can often help. At Flo Mediation we can bring in or recommend experts for those times when participants need them.
After all, evaluators play a key role in helping all of us make decisions at times. From a doctor’s opinion to a real estate assessor’s estimate, experts help bring clarity to confusion and answer key questions.
Flo Mediation Does What Type of Mediation
At Flo Mediation, we practice facilitative and transformative mediation. That means we help clients communicate and understand each other. They often reach concrete, agreed upon goals at the end of their work with us. This may mean written or spoken agreements. Other times mediation concludes with a plan for more sessions, an end to mediation, or a new path forward in the relationship.
These conclusions are up to the parties and agreed upon in the session. Flo Mediation practitioners don’t decide for you. Instead we help you decide together what works best for your situation.