Meet
Nancy Rohrer Sauder
Born and raised in
Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, I graduated from Lancaster Mennonite
School and then attended Lankenau Hospital School of Nursing in
Philadelphia to earn a registered nurse diploma. Much later I
returned to school and completed a degree in Health Care Management
at Lebanon Valley College.
I pursued my nursing
career from 1972-1988. Just before I stepped out of that career
to focus on parenting, I attended a workshop about conflict
resolution. The basic principles of promoting listening, and
facilitating communication to resolve conflict, resonated with what
made sense to me. I decided that I would pursue training in conflict
resolution during the years I stayed out of the work force to be with
my children. Mediation has become my passion.
Since 1988, I have had
extensive training in basic mediation, divorce mediation, group
facilitation, congregational consultation and mediation of equal
employment opportunity complaints. I have been a pro-bono mediator
for the Lancaster (PA) Mediation Center, and established a private
practice in mediation and consulting, and have subsequently conducted
hundreds of hours of mediation sessions and consultations.
During those years away
from the work force, I also served on the boards of directors of a
variety of non-profit organizations, and held leadership roles in the
church and community.
I maintain my RN license
in Pennsylvania, and am a member of the Pennsylvania Council of
Mediators and an Advanced Practitioner Member of the Association for
Conflict Resolution.
My
mediation style
Mediation has many forms
and styles, and is more of an art than a science. After learning the
fundamental elements of mediation, the practitioner tends to develop
a personal style within the bounds of a particular form of mediation.
Over the years since 1993 I have studied and practiced several forms
of mediation, and have found a form that fits my personal style.
I recognize conflict as a
normal part of life, and of course know it's what we do with it
that makes it a positive or negative force. Most people say they
hate conflict, but that doesn't shield them from it. I don't
like conflict either, but I feel a lot better about it if I find a
way to work with it rather than allow the conflict to erode important
relationships. Having spent many hours sitting with people working
with intense conflict since 1993, I am more committed now than ever to
establishing an environment for people to work through their
conflict.
I believe that my job as
the mediator is to facilitate the process, but the participants are
in charge of the outcome. I will not make decisions for the
participants or make recommendations about what the outcome should
be. The participants take the lead, and I follow them to the topics
and issues that are important to them, giving structure and shape to
the process as we go along. I try to maintain an informal yet
professional process that meets the parties' needs.
As the mediator, I strive
to work with the participants to do several things, depending what
they find helpful, as follows:
establish guidelines
that will make the session safe and helpful for all participants
help the parties hear
and understand each other
help the parties
clarify their thoughts and feelings about the issues at hand
help the parties
reach agreements, if they choose to do that
make sure the
agreements include statements about "who" will do "what" by "
when", etc., as suitable to the situation
I am committed to
maintaining confidentiality as agreed upon by the participants
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