Mediation is a process in which a neutral third party assists two or more persons, or stakeholders, to find mutually-agreeable solutions to difficult problems.

Mediation is employed at all levels and contexts, from minor disputes to global peace talks. It is thus difficult to provide a general description without referring to practices in specific jurisdictions - where 'Mediation' may in fact be formally defined and in some venues require specific licenses. This article attempts only a broad introduction, with more specific processes (such as peace process, binding arbitration, or mindful mediation) referred to directly in the text.

While some people loosely use the term 'mediation' to mean any instance in which a third party helps people find agreement, professional mediators generally believe it is essential for mediators to have thorough training, competency, and continuing education.

Types of disputes or decision-making that are often mediated include the following (though use is not limited to these areas):

Family:

* Prenuptial agreements
* Financial or budget disagreements
* Separation
* Divorce
* Financial distribution and spousal support (alimony)
* Parenting plans (child custody and visitation)
* Eldercare issues
* Family businesses
* Adult sibling conflicts
* Disputes between parents and adult children
* Estate disputes
* Medical ethics and end-of-life issues

Workplace:

* Wrongful termination
* Discrimination
* Harassment
* Grievances
* Labor management

Public disputes:

* Environmental
* Land use

Disputes involving the following issues:

* Landlord-tenant
* Homeowners' associations
* Builders/contractors/realtors/homeowners
* Contracts of any kind
* Medical malpractice
* Personal injury
* Partnerships
* Non-profit organizations
* Faith communities

Other:

* Youth (school conflicts; peer mediation);
* Violence prevention
* Victim-Offender mediation

Mediation commonly includes the following aspects or stages:

* a controversy, dispute or difference of positions between people, or a need for decision-making or problem-solving;

* decision-making remaining with the parties rather than being made by the neutral third party;

* the willingness of the parties to negotiate a positive solution to their problem, and to accept a discussion about respective interests and objectives;

* the intent to achieve a positive result through the facilitative help of an independent, neutral third person.

In the United States, mediator codes of conduct emphasize that any solutions be 'client-directed' rather than imposed by a mediator in any way, and this is a common, definitive feature of mediation in the US and UK.

Mediation differs from most other adversarial resolution processes by virtue of its simplicity, informality, flexibility, and economy.

The typical mediation has no formal compulsory elements, although some common elements are usually found:

* each party allowed to explain and detail his/her story;
* the identification of issues, usually facilitated by the mediator;
* the clarification and detailed specification of respective interests and objectives;
* the conversion of respective subjective evaluations into more objective values;
* identification of options;
* discussion and analysis of the possible effects of various solutions;
* the adjustment and the refining of the accessory aspects;
* the memorialization of agreements into a written draft

Due to the particular character of this activity, each mediator uses a method of his or her own (a mediator's methods are not ordinarily governed by law), that might eventually be very different from the above scheme. Also, many matters do not legally require a particular form for the final agreement, while others expressly require a precisely determined form.

Most countries respect a mediator's confidentiality.