Interested families are invited to meet with a TPM staff member to find out if mediation is right for them. Families choosing mediation participate in from two to four meetings, where trained mediators assist them in openly airing their concerns. Agreements for daily living that everyone confirms are fair and realistic are made and signed at each of these meetings. TPM cultivates cooperation, trust, and joint decision-making. Taking part builds trust and establishes a way for families to settle their differences in the future by themselves.

What is TPM?

Mediation is a way of helping people settle their differences peacefully. The Teen & Parent Mediation (TPM) Program is a new service offered by Anderson County Community Mediation Services. In TPM, volunteer mediators help teens and parents develop agreements for daily living that everyone agrees are fair and realistic.

Participation in the program is voluntary, and program services are offered at no cost to families. TPM mediators are volunteers from the community who are trained to create understanding between family members. They recognize parental authority, while giving teens a voice.

Mediation is not counseling. Parents & teens learn to solve their own problems. The process establishes an atmosphere of equality and respect for each individual's needs, emotions, and ideas. Mediation is short-term, and focuses on specific problems, letting families express feelings and tell what they need to make things better at home or at school.

Although TPM isn't a cure-all for family problems, it does let teens and parents air their concerns openly in a respectful manner, often for the first time. TPM boosts cooperation, trust and joint decision-making. Families who participate in mediation establish ways of settling their differences by themselves in the future.