Training mediators, as well as specialists in other helping professions, requires a special approach, namely, developing in the process of learning and further improving a culture of attitude towards a person as a unique system, which also includes the attitude to yourself. As noted by G.F. Pokhmelkin, “mediation is, in essence, a complex of reflective technologies for conflict negotiations, where the disputing parties, with the help of an independent intermediary mediator, themselves reflect on the contradictions that have arisen, develop a solution, create agreements, resolving the conflict. At the same time, the mediator reflects both the positions of the conflicting parties and the process of his mediation itself.”[1]. The term “mediator’s position” as the main personal and professional tool of the mediator’s work is considered by some authors as “values ​​realized in specific, including innovative, ways of organizing activities." This interpretation of the position allows us to shift the emphasis from the value layer of self-determination to the layer of means and actions. Understanding the position of a mediator is learning the means of hygiene of social relationships. Mediation helps to clear relationships of negative feelings and tensions, and thereby maintain social health [2]. Reflection as a process inherent in humans and distinguishing them from the animal world has been studied throughout the history of mankind, starting from ancient times. Initially, the concept of reflection was formed and developed within the framework of philosophical science and only then moved into psychology. Currently, in foreign psychology, the study of reflection as a special mental reality is expressed in the form of two main directions in the development of views on this problem. The first - as a problem of self-control and activity control. The second is chronologically later, originating in the early work on the study of thinking in cognitive psychology. Its further development is associated with the identification and study of processes that are not directly involved in the processing of information, but regulate its implementation, which were subsequently designated as “meta-processes”. The general intellectual meaning of the metacognitivist understanding of reflection is expressed in the definition of D. Derner, according to which reflection is “the ability to think about one’s own thinking in order to improve it” [3]. Analyzing the relationship between reflection and profession, we can talk about professional reflection, that is about reflection on one’s professional activity, self-awareness in a given profession, and about reflection as a skill that contributes to the successful work of a particular professional. It is necessary to distinguish between the concepts of external and internal reflection. According to the opinion of A.V. Karpov’s reflection must be differentiated according to the criterion of its direction: in accordance with this, the author divides two types of reflection, “intrapsychic” (internal) and “intrapsychic” (external). The first correlates with reflexivity as the ability to self-perceive the content of one’s own psyche and analyze it, the second with the ability to understand the psyche of other people, which includes, along with reflexivity as the ability to “take another’s place,” also the mechanisms of projection, identification, and empathy [4]. When conducting a mediation procedure, both types of reflection are important for a specialist, but in the framework of this article we will examine internal reflection. The internal state of the mediator during the procedure, which includes reflection of his emotions, reflection of his attitude to this conflict and to the conflict as a whole, reflection of maintaining the desire to understand the parties and not change their situation, reflection of the neutrality of his position and respect and acceptance of the position of each of We will call the parties “the basic position of the mediator.” In general, the work of almost all representatives of the helping professions is largely connected with the zone of conflict - both external and internal, and the path to its resolution requires specialists to have appropriatechanges in one’s personality, therefore, everything that we will call the “basic position of a mediator” also applies to other representatives of the helping professions. Let us consider its components in more detail. When training specialists in the helping professions, it seems important to us to develop the emotional intelligence of specialists, as a component of the “basic position of a mediator " Emotional intelligence includes four competencies: the ability to recognize one’s emotions; the ability to recognize the emotions of others; the ability to manage both one’s own emotions and the emotions of other people [5]. Reflection on one’s emotional state allows the mediator, as well as any specialist in the helping professions, to avoid professional burnout and perform their work more effectively. Equally important is the reflection of the mediator’s attitude towards the conflict: the mediator perceives the conflict as an integral component of human existence and must not only withstand it with dignity, but sincerely believe that the parties can use the conflict to improve their lives [6]. Taking the position of “escape” from the conflict, we become its victim; taking the position of “struggle” in the conflict, we become aggressors; taking the position of “judge,” we become rescuers. Any of these options is a dead end for the mental and professional development of representatives of helping professions. If we do not engage and explore conflict, it consumes us and subjugates us. This applies to both external and internal conflicts. Conflict forces us to think, feel and speak within a rigid dichotomy: right-wrong, win-lose. This position is born of the so-called “conflict thinking,” which, in essence, is rigid and uncompromising. The opposite of “conflict thinking” will be “creative thinking”, which expands the specialist’s capabilities in helping other people [7]. To live a quality life, from the point of view of mediation, is to be able to be in conflicts: to interact with other people, regardless of conflicts. Mediation does not overcome conflicts and does not prevent conflicts. Mediation is a way of reconciling interests that are always potentially conflicting [8]. One of the basic principles of mediation are the principles of neutrality and respect (acceptance). Neutrality of a mediator is the ability not to take sides, not to evaluate the positions expressed by clients. At the same time, it is equally important to adhere to the principle of respect and acceptance, which allows the mediator to remain interested in the positions and interests conveyed by people, and not a detached observer. Reflection on himself and how he relates to the information provided by the conflicting parties, how close or far it is to the personal worldview and life experience of the mediator, allows him to remain within the framework of these principles and promptly eliminate their violations in his work. The fourth component of the mediator’s basic position seems to be us in the mediator's initial desire to understand the parties, and not to change their situation or help resolve their conflict. To understand the parties means to understand what their deepest interests and needs were violated and led to this conflict. This is the ability of a mediator, based on the positions declared by the parties, to hear the true interests and needs of the parties behind them. Understanding the true needs and interests of each party, the mediator contributes to their unification and the transition from “demonizing” their opponent to dialogue. By introducing “understanding” as a component of the mediator’s basic position, we primarily rely on the approach developed by Gary Friedman and Jack Himmelstein, which they call the “understanding-based or understanding approach to mediation.” The value of this approach is that finding a way out the created situation of conflict comes when the parties themselves begin to realize what constitutes the core, the essence of their dispute, achieving, together with the mediator, the full breadth and depth of understanding of themselves, their opponent and the situation as a whole, which leads to the complete exhaustion of the conflict situation, and not solving it only. 712.