The Kukin Program sat down with Rachel Alexander (Alexander Mediation Group) to learn about her journey to running her own mediation practice.

After studying social work at Columbia University, Rachel arrived at Cardozo already certain she wanted to become a mediator. Her early mediation training at Cardozo, particularly handling Small Claims Court cases as a co-mediator, proved foundational. There, she witnessed how parties could shift when mediators modeled calm, regulated communication. After graduating from Cardozo, she practiced law in Nashville, TN, before moving back to New York area to join an established mediation practice.

Eventually Rachel left the firm to build her own practice. She served on court rosters as a volunteer mediator to build her experience and built her network by joining professional associations and other networking groups.  Rachel also completed a two-year certification in Focusing-Oriented Psychotherapy through the International Focusing Institute, a body-based approach centered on the “felt sense,” or bodily knowing developed by Eugene Gendlin and Carl Rogers.

Today, her practice focuses on divorce mediation, custody and co-parenting matters, parenting plan modifications, prenuptial and postnuptial agreements, and high-conflict communication restructuring. Rachel describes divorce as a moment when individuals are often dysregulated and overwhelmed yet required to make high-stakes decisions. Her goal is to help clients settle internally so they can make thoughtful, long-term choices, particularly for their children.  She describes herself as being “on the side of both parties by being on the side of the family unit.”  

For students and aspiring neutrals, Rachel offers clear advice: seek out hands-on experience through clinics and pro bono programs; study negotiation, psychology, and communication; and take the time to build trust, mentorship, and community.