Mediation

• A desperate want to resolve (you say things to yourself like "Oh please let's get this out of our lives, I want to move on" and "I cannot stand getting another email from my lawyer, from their lawyer, the very sound of an email notification makes me feel anxious");
• A need to protect a relationship with the parties involved (you are unlikely to ever join a bowling team with the other party but you are likely to want a situation in the future where you don't feel the toxicity for one another that makes every day life (especially with kids) hard); 
• A brain that considers alternatives - a feeling that you will walk into mediation and be open to other ideas to the one's you had before you walked-in regardless of whether you accept those ideas or agree to them - you are not being asked to do what anyone tells you to do but you need to be open to the idea that there are different ways that something can be resolved.
• A want to own your decision - a feeling that you want control over the decision rather than losing that control to someone that does not know you. All the power in mediation is in your hands and the hands of the person with whom you are in a dispute. You lose that when someone else tells you both what to do. 

• Listen to your lawyer. 
• Prepare for a very long day. 
• Come with ideas about what you want to do resolve. 
• Come prepared with ways to enact what you want to do to resolve (i.e. an idea of borrowing capacity, consent from any third-party like a superfund or a co-owner).
• Get realistic time frames in place of how to implement your resolution. 
• Start mentally preparing for what you may have to do to enact a resolution ( ideas of where to move to if you are leaving your primary residence and things like that).

We tailor mediation to you - you may need two mediators (tandem mediation) you may need one mediator, you may want to meet the mediator before your big day; all of these options are available to you and we screen this when you book mediation with us. 

The day generally starts with a private session to assess whether or not a joint session (where you and the other party sit) will be possible - this does not happen without everyone's consent or if there is a safety concern. 

We then generally deal with each other in private rooms where we talk about generating options to resolve your dispute. 

Regardless of whether we are in private or joint sessions, all of it remains confidential.

Through talking through options you generally find people reach a resolution - either for the whole dispute, part of the dispute or even the things to do to have a better chance at resolving the dispute later.