Mediation is an interactional and interpersonal process. An impartial person, without decision-making authority, helps people in dispute communicate effectively in order to: better understand one another; gain clarity about the dispute; express their respective experiences, concerns and points of view and through which they find a mutually acceptable response to their conflict. I believe in the Satisfaction Triangle and satisfaction includes: substance, process and psychological.

Substance satisfaction includes, and is more than, whether the terms of an agreement meet the parties needs and interests. For the parties it also includes:

• looking ahead, does it seem possible and likely to make the terms of the agreement work?
• Did you consider how things could go wrong?
• Do you understand everything in the proposed agreement?
• Were the standards/guidelines used to make decisions, clearly identified, spelled out and agreed to?

Process satisfaction includes aspects such as: that the mediator was unbiased, the rules of the process was made clear and were applied uniformly and everyone was able to speak and be heard. For the parties it also includes:

• Were all parties encouraged to listen attentively? Did it happen? Did the mediator listen carefully to me and to others?
• Did you feel that you had a voice?
• Did the process encourage and support your ability to engage honestly; to express ideas, proposals and emotions?

Psychological satisfaction – After all, mediation is not counseling or psychotherapy. These are some of the elements of psychological satisfaction that have meaning for the parties:

• Did you feel composed, confident and hopeful?
• Were you in charge of how you engaged and reacted?
• Were your concerns viewed as genuine and your points of view treated as legitimate?
• As a result of participating in this process, did you experience a relatively decrease in your levels of stress and unease?
• Do you feel you were respected?

Focusing on all elements, substance, process and psychological, represents excellence in practice, it is also the best way to help parties determine a mutually acceptable response to their dispute, to find the best way forward and to create an agreement that is implementable and durable!