I want to focus on the first issue. During the workshop many participants suggested that they were not qualified to decide whether the man should be involved in mediation. If mediation required a psychiatric diagnosis for this client, then a psychiatrist would indeed be the proper professional to consult. Is a mediator really obliged to obtain a diagnosis, or is this an undue infringement on the client's right to privacy. Psychiatric diagnoses Psychiatric diagnoses can range from relatively minor personality disorders to drug dependencies to depression to schizophrenia.
Many diagnoses have little or nothing to do with a person's ability to participate in mediation.
Even a person with a major psychosis may be a good candidate for mediation. A good candidate is someone who can participate fairly and safely in mediation, regardless of having a mental illness. We must be careful about stereotyping or stigmatizing people with mental illnesses. As mediators we believe that all people should be respected, and that all people have a right to self-determination. Although the right to self-determination is not an absolute right, the rights of people with mental illnesses should not be violated without very good reason.