Mediation News
Assisting in the Cooperative Resolution of Conflict

 

 

Full-Service Mediation Center
Opens Doors in Erie County

Buffalo Mediation Associates has announced the opening of the first full-service professional center in Western New York devoted exclusively to the practice of mediation.

Building on more than eleven years of experience in family and divorce mediation, and combining professional expertise in social work, law, education, and pastoral ministry, Buffalo Mediation Associates is able to offer a complete spectrum of mediation service to the community, including:

To assist its staff of trained mediators, BMA maintains a wide network of professional consultants including attorneys, accountants, financial planners, career counselors, pastoral counselors, therapists, and others who can bring special expertise to bear on particular client issues.

In every facet of service, BMA seeks to support a cooperative decision-making process that allows all parties to fashion creative, constructive, healthy solutions wherever conflict is encountered.

The professionals at BMA also help clients lay a foundation of cooperation and communication to help prevent future conflict from becoming destructive.

Consultations are by appointment and can be arranged either in the BMA suite of offices, in the yellow house near the corner of Main and Harlem, or at the client's place of business.

The Mediation Advantage

Every individual, family, business, and organization experiences conflict. What's important is not whether we can avoid it, but how we deal with it when it arises.

The simplest way to resolve conflict is through negotiation, where disputants work through their own problems and reach their own solutions.

Where the level of conflict escalates, negotiation is not always possible. Of all the alternative methods of conflict resolution available, mediation provides the best opportunity for a healthy and constructive outcome.

In mediation, a trained professional assists the parties in reaching their own solution set forth in a written agreement. The mediator manages the process, but the outcome is entirely in the hands of the parties themselves. Mediation is an entirely voluntary process.

Although the mediator is carefully trained in specific skills, good mediation is more than a set of techniques. Mediation is a way of restructuring relationships to enhance the quality of life for everyone concerned. This is as true for individuals, couples, and families as for large organizations.

Because all conflict involves a "system" of at least two people, good mediation will take a systems approach to conflict resolution, moving toward a solution that best meets the needs of everyone involved.

In divorce mediation, for example, the "client" is really the entire family, and the desired outcome will be one that fully considers the needs of both parents and children. It will work for an orderly restructuring of the family in a way that fosters the healing of emotional wounds.

Mediation has many advantages over other approaches to conflict resolution. It is private. It retains control of the outcome in the hands of those involved. Its cost is lower, both emotionally and financially. Solutions are reached more quickly than with other approaches. And it helps preserve the self-esteem and dignity of everyone involved.

Call Buffalo Mediation Associates to find out how mediation can help in your situation.

 


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