Courage to Change LLC promotes the use of our skilled counselors in family mediation and dispute resolution. Our resources have completed advanced training in family mediation and dispute resolution.
The regional centers in Nebraska primarily use a facilitative, interest-based mediation model and generally follow the same program standards and procedures. Each mediation center has developed programs unique to its geographical area designed to assist the public and courts to access justice for disputes.
The following is an excerpt from the 'Nebraska Mediation and ADR Handbook'.
BENEFITS OF MEDIATION
Mediation will not solve all the problems of society, and it will not solve all the problems of the courts. However, mediation does provide an avenue for individuals to achieve resolution of disputes in a wide variety of cases. The process, when appropriate and where used effectively, can have many benefits.
Mediation is inherently non-coercive. It seeks to use the value systems of the parties in a normative way to help them to resolve their differences. When an agreement is reached through mediation, it is based upon the parties' own values and needs, and not imposed upon the parties by outside force.
Mediated agreements are self-enforcing. A number of studies have shown that parties who have reached their own agreement are generally more likely to follow through and comply with its terms than those whose agreement has been imposed by a third party decision-maker.
Parties are satisfied with the ADR process. When parties reach an agreement through mediation, they are more likely to be satisfied with the process and to have faith in the process than are litigants at the conclusion of a trial. Even in cases when an agreement is not reached through mediation, the parties who have attempted mediation tend to perceive the opposing party as acting in good faith more often than litigants who go to trial without having attempted mediation.
The process is flexible and comprehensive. Mediation has the added advantage of being able to develop agreements that cover both legal and extra-legal issues. In divorce and custody cases for example, visits with extended family members may be outside the purview of statutory authority, however, the flexible nature of mediation allows the parties to determine the issues that are important to them, as well as resolve the essential legal issues for the divorce.
Mediation both resolves past issues and addresses future needs. Mediation allows parties to come to a resolution of their dispute within the context of their relationship. This is particularly important when the relationship is going to continue, such as the relationship that parents have with one another even after a divorce, the relationship of one business partner to another, the relationship of employer and employee, the relationship of neighbors, etc. Mediation not only resolves the dispute at hand but may set up a framework to more easily resolve future disagreements.
Mediated settlements tend to hold over time; and, if the parties do develop a later dispute, they are better equipped to resolve the dispute without resorting to the courts.
Mediation is private. The mediation process is done in private rather than in an open courtroom. The matters discussed in mediation are confidential and preserve the privacy of the parties involved.