Mediation

In mediations, we work with any challenge that comes up between people. We work with couples, parents and children, adult children, siblings, friends, colleagues, members of community groups and other situations where two or more people would like to find a way forward to greater closeness or harmony. Sometimes people come because they are experiencing conflict, other times people want support to build greater closeness. We are happy to work with you whatever your goals.

For a mediation to take place, it is important that there is willingness on the part of all parties. If you find yourself wishing to work on a relationship but the other person is not open to this, we can still work with you individually. Our experience is that significant changes are still possible within the relationship dynamic when either party works alone on their communication and has an opportunity to fully express and be heard. Feel free to contact us if you would like to explore an individual session with us. 

At Peace Talks, we operate using a "gift economy" approach. Our current request is $120-$195 per hour, for couple and family mediations, and $195 per hour for group mediations with organisations and businesses. This gives an indication of the amount we hope to receive in order to support our families and to be able to continue to offer this work. This takes into account the time and resources involved in offering these sessions.

However, this is offered as a guideline only and we are open to you offering us a different amount that better matches your financial circumstances and your willingness to contribute. (If you wish to offer us more than this amount, you are contributing to others who are not able to offer so much due to their financial circumstances). We would love for our offering to be received as a gift, and we hope that people can likewise see their financial contribution as a gift - finding an amount that really feels comfortable to offer without stretching yourself into hardship, while also supporting us to continue doing this work we love so much. Please get in touch with us if you would like more clarity about this.

The approximate number of hours for each service is:

• Couple’s single-session mediation (2 pre-sessions + 1 mediated session) = ~4 hours
• Couple’s mediation package (4 pre-sessions, 3 mediated sessions and 1 follow-up session) = ~12 hours
• Group basic mediation package (3+ pre-sessions, 1 three-hour mediation session and 1 follow-up session, +time for preparation and follow up) = ~11 hours (depending on number of individuals involved and complexity of the relational challenge - please contact us to discuss)
• For in-person mediations, travel costs will be added. 

The approximate number of hours for each service is:

• Couple’s single-session mediation (2 pre-sessions + 1 mediated session) = ~4 hours
• Couple’s mediation package (4 pre-sessions, 3 mediated sessions and 1 follow-up session) = ~12 hours
• Group basic mediation package (3+ pre-sessions, 1 three-hour mediation session and 1 follow-up session, +time for preparation and follow up) = ~11 hours (depending on number of individuals involved and complexity of the relational challenge - please contact us to discuss)
• For in-person mediations, travel costs will be added. 

We recommend that you hold the intention of committing to 3-5 full mediation sessions, as it can take some time to experience deeper shifts in how you engage and connect with each other and with others in your lives. As the sessions are quite full, we recommend scheduling sessions approximately 3 weeks apart, which gives time for integration, application, trial and error before we all meet again to continue. 

At Peace Talks, we want to take concrete steps towards creating a world where we can truly care for each other, operate from deep connection to community and give and receive from a true generosity of heart.

We want to live the change we want to see in the world (or, as Yoram Mozenson puts it, “live the needs we want to see in the world”) by bringing our values into every aspect of our lives and our work, including the question of how our families meet our basic needs. 

As a concrete step towards living the change we want in the world, we have been using a “Gift Economy” approach through our work at Peace Talks. This is a whole new way of operating in the world, is a little uncertain and maybe even uncomfortable at times, and yet, one that we have found to be rewarding, exciting and hopeful.

Simply put, a gift economy approach is an attempt to recreate a world where we care for each other, where we acknowledge that our well-being is inextricably tied up in each others’, and that we have some agency in creating a world that is focused on need not greed.  

The gift economy is an attempt to reimagine how we might be able to bring about the kind of deeply caring world we long for while also acknowledging the current reality of the economic system we are embedded within.

The gift economy harks back to our traditional, ancient roots when we lived in interconnected communities and each of us cared for all of us. (If you are interested in more background in the gift economy approach, see Charles Esientien, Miki Kashtan, Genevieve Vaughan among others).

This is very different from the world and economic system we currently live in (which rely on widespread ideas and beliefs like “deserving”, punishment and reward, power over or the use of violence in order to function). We therefore choose to live our lives to reflect these values as much as we are able to. Our wish in using this approach is to:

• Create systems where resources can flow to needs. We want our offerings to be accessible to a wide range of people, regardless of their ability to pay. In other words, we want the support, care and guidance that we offer to flow in the most direct way to the people who need that support, care and guidance. We want this course and all of our teachings to be accessible no matter their financial circumstances.

• Integrity and alignment with our values. The values of connection, care and compassion that are at the heart of NVC are the guiding principles of our lives, not “add ons”. The gift economy allows us to offer our services in a way that integrates our values and moves us towards a world where resources flow to people's needs.  The Gift Economy approach offers a way for us to explore a radical economic paradigm of integrating and embodying the connection and needs-based lens that we share in our teaching into every aspect of life (including economic decisions). 

• Modelling a new way of being, based on NVC teaching. We want the people we work with to have a powerful experience of what NVC can look like in the “real world”, not just at the level of inner consciousness or in their relationships with loved ones, but at the level of the systems that govern our lives and how we operate with each other in the world. We are passionate about sharing an alternative vision for the world, and therefore choose to offer many of our services using a gift-based economy.  

Offering a gift economy approach is a concrete step we can take towards these goals.

A gift economy approach transforms the moment of economic exchange into a relational moment - your wellbeing and mine are brought together into shared consideration. We are brought into awareness of our inter-dependence, our shared humanity and our mutual longing for trust and cooperation: “I” and “you” become “we”.

It creates a tiny microcosm of possibility; a world where we care for each other, where the implications of our economic choices are a little more visible to us, and where we are able to use our daily financial decisions as a way to meet needs and support each other.