Mediation is offered as an informal, constructive way of resolving disputes. You and the person (or people) you disagree with sit down with a person who’s neutral (the mediator), and the mediator helps you find a solution you can live with. The session is private, and reaching agreement is voluntary (you can back out of the process at any time). If you resolve your dispute, the agreement is really yours. The mediator only helps you look at the problem in new ways – ways that may offer more options than just one person winning or losing. The mediator’s role is to establish an atmosphere that will allow you to communicate openly, but safely and effectively, so that you can find solutions to disputes you thought were insoluble – solutions you might not otherwise have been able to think of.