Family Mediators. The need for Standards and Regulation

Abstract

There is growing acceptance of the need for national standards for family mediation training and practice. In some countries, mediation has achieved the status of a new profession. In others, mediation is carried out without accredited training or regulation of family mediators” practice. Many countries now have legislation with provision for family mediation. This can result in competition between different professions as to who is best qualified to be a family mediator. Some members of the legal profession consider that the right to practise family mediation should be restricted to qualified lawyers. Others accept that mediators trained in counselling or psychology offer knowledge and skills that are needed in mediating with couples and families during separation and divorce. This article explores the essentially interdisciplinary nature of family mediation as a new and distinct profession. This discipline needs regulation and national standards to establish its status and to ensure the quality of family mediation practice.