"Are you struggling with a conversation that’s too difficult to have, but too important to avoid?”
That’s the website tagline of a new mediation business in Dauphin.
Second Story Mediation, based out of The Hub at 512 Main St, was started by former Dauphin judge Christine Harapiak and former Parkland Regional Library director Jean-Louis Guillas.
Harapiak says they are a general mediation practice.
“Mediation is a very flexible process that can apply to a lot of interpersonal conflicts. So, landlord-tenant, family conflicts, elder care, so it’s pretty general that way. Mediation is a voluntary, confidential process where a third-party facilitates conversations or negotiations between people.”
Harapiak is a mediator, which is something she’s been interested in since learning about it in law school 20 years ago. She took a 22-day program to get a certificate for conflict resolution with an emphasis in mediation.
Harapiak says there’s more to the business than just mediation.
“There’s mediation, and there’s also an education aspect to it. We’re going to develop some conflict resolution workshops for local youth to deliver over the winter. We just felt pretty strongly that so many things had been cancelled and conflict resolution skills are such an important life skill that this is something we could offer to the community over the winter.”
Guillas is also an educator with Second Story Mediation, he has years of teaching experience from his time at the University of Manitoba, Red River College, and Assiniboine Community College.
Harapiak says they’ve received good feedback from the community so far and they have an online presence with their website and Instagram.
“The tagline on the website is, are you struggling with a conversation that’s too difficult to have, but too important to avoid? And I think people who hear that start to understand, you know, in their own lives where this might fit in. There’s interpersonal conflict that we struggle with all the time, some of those conversations we can walk away from, but some of those relationships are so important that having a third party come in and help get you past that place you’re stuck at could be really useful.”
If you would like to get in contact with Second Story Mediation, you can do so on their website or by calling (204) 621-7761.
