The relevance of the topic under consideration is due to the need to improve the effectiveness of family mediation. The presented statistical data of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, the Center for Conflict Resolution of the St. Petersburg State Budgetary Institution «CCSP» indicates the low effectiveness of the alternative procedure for settling family disputes with the participation of a mediator. Analyzing the reasons for this, the authors turn to the world experience in the development of family mediation, focused on the development of standards for training specialists on the basis of serious psychological training. The Russian professional standard «Specialist in Mediation (mediator)» in a specialized field of activity sets the requirements for the special knowledge and skills of a mediator in the field of social, humanistic, cognitive psychology, psychological correction of attitudes, perception, and emotional response. However, the analysis of the basic training program for mediators in the family mediation module, as well as the training programs for mediators offered by Russian higher education organizations, indicates that there is no serious psychological training for mediators to resolve disputes arising from family legal relationships. The authors’ practical first-hand experience makes it possible to highlight the psychological component of family conflicts, which significantly distinguishes family mediation from mediation in the field of civil or labor disputes and requires a mediator to have competencies in the field of family psychodiagnostics, family counseling and therapy. The authors substantiate a number of methodological and technological provisions of the family mediation procedure.