About MCMC
Montgomery County Mediation Center (MCMC) is the only not-for-profit community mediation center in Montgomery County. Our mission is to provide the opportunity for people to make decisions about how to resolve their disputes. Our work is based upon the belief that people have the ability to make their own decisions and to consider the needs and perspectives of others. In addition, MCMC furthers the practice of mediation through education and training. We educate the public about conflict resolution, and train professionals from all areas of the United States to become skilled and competent mediators.
In 1983 a group of individuals from the Indian Valley and North Penn areas of Montgomery County organized a community mediation center with the intent of offering conflict resolution services to the community. This center was known as Eastern Pennsylvania Mediation Service. In 1996, the center moved from Souderton to Norristown, in order to better serve all members of the Montgomery County community by choosing a location more accessible to a larger and more diverse constituency. Along with the move came a name change: Eastern Pennsylvania Mediation Service became Montgomery County Mediation Center. In October 2007 MCMC moved to its present location on Ridge Pike in Eagleville, just 4 miles west of Norristown.
Montgomery County Mediation Center practices in the transformative model of mediation, as outlined in The Promise of Mediation (Folger and Bush, 1994). Tranformative mediation is a step away from the "problem-solving" model of mediation that has mediators directing the parties involved towards a settlement. Transformative mediation stresses the agency of the parties within the mediation process. The goal of the process is for the parties to gain empowerment and mutual recognition, which in turn may lead to a mutually agreeable outcome. In the transformative model, all decisions - including what to talk about, how to talk about it, ground rules, and the outcome - are in the hands of the parties. The mediator is there to clarify and to support the parties in having their conversation, not to make decisions for them.
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