It seems nowadays as if money is the only answer to so many problems. Especially if you are stuck in a dispute, it is possible that the other side has said they want money to solve the problem.
Although this may be the case, it is also what we have been trained to expect as a society. The courts are limited in what they can give parties and unless you can fix a dollar amount to what you want it can be difficult to achieve anything else.
It is especially worth mediating a dispute if you do not have the money to pay the other side. Mediations empower people to be creative. It may be that there is something else you can offer, for example, services or future business or work.
Or it may be that asking for money is the only option that someone is able to communicate. Often when there has been a breach of trust or an emotional or physical injury people need more than money. Sometimes they need to hear that the other side is sorry. Or maybe they need to be able to tell their story to explain what the dispute has cost them in physical and psychologically. Narrative mediation is based on the belief that for some parties sharing their story, making the other side understand the extent of what they have done, is sufficient to enable them to move forward.
Don’t think that money is the only reason people get into disputes. Without doubt it is often what they talk loudest about but there are many reasons why people get into disputes and money is only one type of solution.
Mediators are trained to help you and the other side understand what is motivating you in the dispute and what it is that you really want to resolve it.