Psychotherapy and mediation: similarities and differences

That mediation is not therapy is known, although both have aspects in common. In the following lines we will see exactly what they are the similarities and differences between group psychotherapy and mediation, and the way in which these two disciplines help us deal with everyday problems.

• Related article: "Types of psychological therapies"

The Similarities Between Mediation and Psychotherapy

To have a better understanding of the aspects that differentiate both disciplines, it is necessary to consider their common aspects. Thus, taking the treatment of family conflict as a reference, there would be two levels of intervention: family therapy and family mediation. In each of them, the role of the professional (psychotherapist and mediator) is to facilitate communication. Each of these contexts develops its particular intervention process.

At first glance, both when we intervene in family therapy and when we intervene in family mediation, we are working with part or all of the members of the family group, with which, a priori, it also seems to share the same objective:

promote the well-being of its members. Each of these interventions is carried out in a confidentiality framework and uses a set of techniques and tools to achieve its objectives.

Adjusting the gaze a little more, the therapeutic approach (therapy or family psychotherapy), addresses two fundamental questions: the treatment of emotional disorders. It works with a primary natural group, the family, and in this field of intervention, the family is seen as an “all-system”. According to this, your goal would be to restore health and create a new way of conceptualizing the relationship with the environment.

For its part, the mediational approach addresses the voluntary conflict management procedure, in which the parties request the intervention of a mediator, who must be professional, impartial, objective and neutral. Works with groups of people without the ability to freely make decisions about how to relate with the rest of the group, and intervenes with all or some members of the family, depending on the type of conflict.

• You may be interested: "Group therapy: history, types and phases"

The differences

What aspects make the difference between therapy and mediation? Let's see them.

1. Different objectives

The therapy has the specific objective of improving health, promoting psychological well-being and contributing to the improvement of relationships. Mediation seeks to improve communication, favoring the resolution of differences generating solutions to them, and reaching an agreement between the parties in conflict. And in turn, without being contemplated among its objectives, mediation has a "therapeutic effect", from the moment that emotional expression and management is facilitated.

In the mediation process, the mediator intervenes by managing the emotions, so that they do not act by interfering with the communication, thus favoring the search for alternatives and solutions that may culminate in an agreement reached by the parties in conflict. From the moment in the mediation process we promote emotional relief, we are facilitating a "therapeutic effect" in people. But this is not the ultimate goal of this type of intervention.

On the other hand, mediation is a structured process, a priori focused on a task: find the solution to a series of disputed aspects, reach an agreement in the form of a written document. This document can reach a “legal” or “quasi-legal” character, settling and agreeing on legal and emotional agreements.

In mediation we work with people, with their relationship, with their problem. This leads to consider an open and fluid intervention structure, in which flexibility is the linchpin of the process, thereby facilitating working on emotions and feelings, their aeration, and identification, will allow the definition of the problem and a more adequate understanding of the conflict psychological.

2. The information you work with

Another differentiating aspect between both interventions is the amount of information to be collected. In therapy, it is essential to collect information from the background and current data of the subject and / or the relationship (clinical or family history). In mediation, only information related to the conflict is collected. Excess information is considered to affect impartiality and objectivity of the mediation professional.

• You may be interested: "The 11 types of conflicts and how to resolve them"

3. The importance of fairness

The role of the psychologist-mediator is based on carrying out their know-how, achieving balance between the parties in conflict, and for this, it is decisive that they perceive you as objective, neutral and impartial, leading the mediation process, facilitating communication between them and favoring communication channels.

The role of psychologist-therapist is based on the analysis of behavior, offering guidelines and alternatives, seeking to restore health and psychological well-being. You usually don't need to take as many precautions so as not to appear biased towards one of the "sides."

Family mediation is an opportunity to face conflicts within and in the family, in which the parties voluntarily seek solutions to their conflict, resolving it through dialogue and communication; and assuming the responsibility of resolving their differences by reaching an agreement that they undertake to fulfill.

The mediator task facilitates a helping relationship that encourages the expression of emotions and feelings. In addition, it helps to clarify the needs of the parties in conflict, helping them to distance themselves from the problem and focus them towards the solution. Mediation offers them the opportunity to experience and nurture the healthy components of the relationship.

Mediating psychologists

The figure of the psychologist-mediator, is configured with a training that allows him to act in both areas, marking in each case the need to intervene in one context or another according to the need of the case.

Thus, it will manage the referral to therapy taking into account the interests of the parties or the objectives that they try to achieve in the process. It will focus on the "rules of the game" to be followed in the intervention, refraining from inducing any result not contemplated in the feelings or will of the parties.