Community Mediation

Family Mediation
No matter what type of family you live in—multiple generations living under one roof, or a single parent, two-parent or blended family—every healthy family needs good communication habits and effective, peaceful means to resolve conflict in order to thrive in today’s demanding world. When busy personal schedules collide with the current climate of societal violence and personal disrespect, family relationships can suffer, causing great emotional and psychological distress.

Some of the issues that often arise in family mediation include:

• Decisions that develop with aging parents (housing, medical care, estate planning, end-of-life issues)
• Family owned business issues
• Parenting issues that occur in blended families
• Parent/child issues that accompany adolescence
• Court-mediated family disputes

How can Mediation help?
Mediation is a process built on respectful communication practices and designed to clarify issues, needs and preferred options for the future. The mediator is a trained professional who brings a neutral perspective to the conversation and works so that all opinions are heard and valued.

The mediator guides the process so that family members can make agreements with each other that are fair, equitable and durable and that support each person in achieving their personal goals together. The mediator also takes detailed notes during the process to accurately record agreements and provide a written summary for future reference.

Mediation supports families that are moving through important and emotional issues so that decisions are made and implemented in a respectful manner and lead to clear and mutually agreeable next steps.

Mediation of family issues is usually completed in two-three sessions of two hours each, although the process is tailored to each individual family’s situation. Each participant is asked to prepare a one-page summary of the issue(s) and the mediator creates an agenda that is agreeable to all parties.

What are the rates?
The Reid Group mediation rates are reasonable. For more information and to schedule an appointment, call 206-432-3565 or e-mail us at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .