Mediation is a conversation between people in conflict facilitated by a third party outside the conflict.
Mediation is:
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Mediation is a voluntary, consensus-based problem solving approach. This means all participants retain the ability to walk away and stop the process at any time.
The mediator uses facilitated communication, emotional processing, heart-to-heart communication, creative problem solving, brainstorming, impasse resolution, and trauma-informed practices to bring conflicting individuals into constructive and creative dialogue.
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Mediation differs from legal avenues because the mediator is not a judge, jury, or arbitrator and therefore is not able to decide the issues for the parties. The parties themselves find the best solution with the mediator’s help.
Together with the mediator, the parties define the issues, identify their needs, hear the needs of the other person, and collaboratively implement new solutions that honor all needs. These steps allow parties to retain decision-making power.
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Mediation looks for a solution that tends to the needs of all people in the conflict, that’s what makes it a “win/win” process. Unlike legal action in which one party must lose while another wins, mediation recognizes the legitimacy of all parties’ self interest.
Mediation can help people learn more effective communication skills, avoid bitterness and hostility, process emotions that are stuck, and build conflict resilient relationships.
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Rather than endlessly re-living the past, our focus in mediation is set towards the future and how to transform the dynamic and relationship in new ways.
The mediation will spend less time concerned with who is “right” or “wrong” and more time understanding unmet needs, both your own and those of the other person in the conflict.
Each mediation is unique but generally involves the following:
New to mediation? Check out this video to learn more.
“The mediator breathes in and says, ‘Hello, my fear, my anger, my despair. I will take good care of you.’”
— Thich Nhat Hanh —
Meet your mediator: Olga Liapis-Muzzy
Hello! I’m a Washington, DC-based mediator, facilitator, and somatic coach working for social and personal transformation.
My mission is to help people collaborate.
Mediation offers a chance to learn from conflict and transform relationships. When we’ve experienced emotional wounding in our childhoods, we develop natural coping skills to survive. The same coping skills that help us survive eventually keep us stuck in conflict, bound to continuously recreate the same dynamics. But it doesn’t have to be this way. When we purposefully tend to and heal the parts of us that are still hurting, we access new ways of engaging with others.
In addition to my mediation training, I bring with me a knowledge of Nonviolent Communication and somatic therapeutic practices such as Compassionate Inquiry and Internal Family Systems Therapy. I actively work to maintain a trauma-informed and anti-racist practice, the central motto of which is: correction is a gift.
Feedback from mediation participants:
Romantic Partner Mediation Participant
“One of the things I appreciated about Olga is she did not come in with the intention of 'fixing' the problem like say a plumber would repair a burst pipe. Rather she came in with the heart of a teacher, deep empathy, and desire for each party to understand each other. I know for certain Olga's approach, care and professionalism fast-forwarded us to the positive outcome we experience today.”
Participant in Coalition Mediation
“Olga was engaged to re-align a complicated relationship with one of our partners. The process involved multiple teams with overlapping interests and made the idea of a successful mediation difficult to see. Olga found the roots of the misalignment, created a safe space, and enabled a rich reunion of the same intentions that started the partnership. Whether for interpersonal or inter-team mediations, we cannot recommend Olga highly enough.”
Workplace Mediation Participant