Marital Mediation uses mediation techniques to open and improve lines of communication, the intent is to help couples address areas of friction in their relationship. Couples sometimes prefer Marital Mediation simply because it is not therapy. Marital Mediation takes a specific form of intervention that is not the same as couples therapy or marriage counseling. The mediation process is empowering to couples because it is so client-driven: the emphasis is always on the clients themselves, respecting their ability to recognize their own issues and craft their own solutions.
The mediator can help each one understand the fact that BOTH are right: each person has a right to their opinion and feelings. However, with two opposing opinions how do we learn to really hear each other and agree on a compromise. In so doing, each spouse acknowledges the other, a central foundation of the marriage: they have their own reality to be heard even if the other considers it not to be true. These and many other skills can be taught to the Marital Mediation clients for future use on their own. One strength of the process is to give couples their own communication tools