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13 Mediation Q. 179 (1995-1996)
Practice guidelines for co-mediation: Making certain that two heads are better than one

handle is hein.journals/cfltrq13 and id is 183 raw text is: 






Practice Guidelines for

Co-Mediation: Making

Certain That Two Heads

Are Better Than One



Lela P Love, Joseph B. Stulberg


    Co-mediation can either enhance or diminish the effectiveness of the media-
    tion process. This article outlines advantages and disadvantages of co-
    mediation and proposes guidelines for co-mediators to enable maximizing the
    potential of a co-mediation team.


The difficult and delicate nature of a mediator's job argues both for and against
a team approach for mediators. Where co-mediators operate in synch with one
another, have the same vision of the mediation process and its goals, and have
a plan that maximizes the strengths of the mediation team, their combined tal-
ents increase their capacity to respond to the myriad challenges they will face.
However, when  either mediator feels disrespected or underutilized in the medi-
ation, the mediators have different visions of the goals of the process, or the
mediators have no plan for or understanding of their tasks and roles vis-a-vis
each other, co-mediators can be worse than a solo mediator, as the difficult and
delicate task of trying to harmonize a dysfunctional or unprepared team is
added to the usual challenges that mediators face.
    Co-mediation has been routinely used in a variety of program and case sit-
uations. For example, in some programs, training needs and quality control
make  co-mediation advisable. Less experienced apprentice mediators are paired
with more experienced mentor mediators, both to provide further training for
the apprentice mediator and to ensure that disputants are well served. In some
case situations, such as divorce proceedings, an attorney and a mental health
professional and a male and female are recommended as the mediator team in
order to address the legal and psychological complexities of such matters.

Note: The practice guidelines described in this article were originally developed for and are
based on the co-mediation guidelines in Stulberg and Love, 1994.


179


MEDIATION QUARTERLY, Vol. 13, no. 3, Spring 1996 0 Jossey-Bass Publishers

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