Mediation is not primarily crisis intervention, counseling, or a court of law. It should not be used as a substitute for any of these things.

In some conflicts, mediation is the best option:

• Where the parties want to resolve their dispute in a less formal or adversarial way than going to court
• Where the parties agree on what the outstanding issues are, and these issues are reasonably limited
• Where there doesn’t seem to be a better way of resolving the dispute, and the parties agree that this is the best course of action
• Where the parties are willing to try to talk, or listen, enough to move towards resolution
• Where the parties acknowledge the mediator as an objective and impartial third party