Frequently Asked Questions

Mediation is a conversation conducted by a trained person called a mediator to resolve a conflict.

Thank you for your question!

Mediation is suitable for almost all subjects and disputes. Mediation is used in family, school, business, politics, religion or in so-called victim-offender mediation within criminal law.

Thank you for your thoughtful question!

To be honest, no statistics in the world can tell you anything about your conflict and your chances of finding a solution.

What can I expect from mediation?

• Structured and constructive communication.
• A protected space.
• A record of the progress of the mediation.
• Understanding of the person mediating

The exact duration varies from case to case and is the responsibility of the parties to the conflict. 
Down to the present day, all my mediations have lasted between 3 and 24 hours. 

What are the advantages of mediation?

Mediation is

• Sustainable and Inexpensive.
• Relationship-preserving, mostly improving.
• Plannable and Resource-saving.
• Creative and Open-ended.
• Unbureaucratic and Goal-orientated.

Detailed information can be found on the page: Worth Knowing About Mediation.

What are the disadvantages of mediation?

• There is no guarantee of an agreement.
• I alone am liable for the decisions made in a mediation process.
• It takes strength of character to deal with possible idiosyncrasies.

Detailed information can be found on the page: Worth Knowing About Mediation.

What makes mediation as a dispute resolution procedure particularly unique?

Mediation is pragmatic. It is future-oriented and serves as a tool for the parties involved in the conflict to find solutions to the current challenge(s)!

Round table:

Mediation is a joint discussion between all parties to the conflict.

Shuttle mediation:

Mediation is a series of one-to-one discussions between the individual parties to the conflict and the mediator. The mediator works as an ambassador.

Thank you for your interest!

No, HOUSE OF MEDIATION has decided against purely online mediation and in favour of face-to-face mediation.

Please allow me to explain:
The success of every mediation, including yours, is very important to me. In online mediation, only a limited range of tools for resolving the conflict are available compared to face-to-face mediation. For example, swapping places can be a good way to change perspectives.
In exceptional cases, such as mediations in the area of victim-offender mediation, the need for physical distance between the parties to the conflict may be more important than the number of tools available. Please feel free to contact me and I will assist you in your search if I am not suitable myself.

Thank you for your up-to-date question.

In contrast to other dispute resolution processes, such as arbitration or court proceedings, the conflict parties in mediation are usually not provided with a solution to their dispute.

The focus of mediation is on the autonomous development of a solution by the parties involved, without any external evaluation of the facts. A mediation ends when all mediatees are satisfied / agree with the result found. They are responsible for this themselves. There is no judgment.

The process of decision-making is of equal value to the outcome, especially in internal conflicts.

A mediation with HOUSE OF MEDIATION consists of five successive phases of discussion.

These are structured as follows:

1. Opening: clarifying of mediation’ principles
2. Stock-taking: presenting of the conflict up to now by all parties
3. Identification of interest: visualizing of the expectations behind the opposing views
4. Option development and selection: creating new solution horizons and testing for applicability in practice
5. Final agreement: settling of conflict

Every number of parties to a conflict can participate in mediation – there is no upper limit. This is also where the idea of co-mediation comes in.

What is co-mediation?
Co-mediation is mediation with several mediators. It works according to the same principle as ‘normal’ mediation.

HOUSE OF MEDIATION will find suitable co-mediators if required.

With the consent of all parties to the conflict, third parties may participate in mediation. Usually, these are lawyers, assessors, tax advisors and sometimes personal confidants (e.g. a best friend).

The assistant is subject to the Mediation Act just like me and is bound to secrecy. In addition, she has signed a confidentiality agreement that further binds her.

If mediation fails, you can go to court without restriction, as if no mediation had taken place.

In court proceedings following mediation, do I have to fear testimony from the mediator or assistants?

No. According to §4 of the Mediation Act, all mediation is subject to confidentiality.

Are there any restrictions due to your physical limitations when mediating with you as a mediator?

My voice can be a bit clipped and I may occasionally speak unclearly. Perhaps you can test this for yourself and watch the film about me. You can also always ask me – no, I’ll even ask you – if you don’t understand something. There is always an assistant at my side to support you.

How do you write during a mediation?

My assistant writes for me as instructed. I also have a very good memory. I also reserve the right to occasionally let clients write for themselves. 

How do you travel?

Depending on the destination, I use a car or public transport. In many cases, such as when flying, it is necessary to register the trip in advance. Then everything goes smoothly.

CCI basic training

In more than 200 hours, I qualified as a business mediator at the Chamber of Industry and Commerce. With alternating lecturers, all of whom are trainers recognised by the Federal Association of MEDIATION, I learned the mediation process and how to deal with conflicts professionally.

The closed group of 18 participants in this course on the one hand allowed me to continuously improve my skills without interruption and on the other hand encouraged self-reflection among each other with regard to challenging situations from mediation practice.

The participants’ different professional backgrounds also provided insights into the diverse areas of application for mediation.

Advanced course (London)

In a further 40 hours, I deepened my knowledge of mediation and gained insights into English practice and international conflicts through the renowned Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution and its guests.

Self-reflection and the ability to accurately and swiftly evaluate the interactions between conflicting parties again played an important part in the training.

Extraordinary circumstances

When I transferred to a regular secondary school, I was assigned my first personal assistants – two people who worked in shifts and were there exclusively for me, i.e. to support and care for me in my everyday school life. This taught me to make agreements that were workable and acceptable for both my carers and me. In the process, I realised that an agreement made with one person was not necessarily acceptable to the other. As a result, I learned and used the techniques and procedures of interest-based negotiation without knowing what I was actually doing. Later, as my care expanded from school to 24-hour assistance around the clock, the size of my team of assistants grew to 6-8 people. Objective criteria were now indispensable. Besides, I realised that I was better cared for when everyone in my team of assistants pulled together, and I gained my first experience in conflict management.

In your opinion, what makes a good mediator?

(Human) dignity for others and oneself. Because then, in a conflict situation, I have the necessary respect and consideration for the respective parties to the conflict and their points of view.

Every life experience can be viewed from different perspectives, and a positive attitude to life at least does not make a difficult situation worse; on the contrary, it usually makes it easier to cope with.

What connects physics with mediation?

Albert Einstein established the special theory of relativity in 1905. He noticed that a person in an elevator does not move from their own perception, but only from the perception of a second person observing them. Different perceptions lead to different results, and the same applies to mediation.

How did you go from physicist to mediator?

External influences, foolhardiness and my gut feeling led me to take this wonderful path.

What is success?

For me, success is being one step closer to my goals than I was yesterday.