Mediation Services of Adams County is offering a training for anyone interested in developing new mediation skills for organizational or business applications. Transformative Mediation is based on empowerment of disputants and recognition by each party of the other party’s needs, interests, values, and point of view. The potential for transformative mediation is that parties or their relationships may undergo a change during the mediation.
The emphasis is not on solving an immediate problem as a one-time event but rather on working a change that will persist beyond the mediation session and into the future. In a transformative mediation, there may or may not be an agreement, but the goal is to create a positive relationship going forward, even while tackling an underlying dispute. Transformative mediation is useful for all kinds of disputes that involve relationships, such as neighborhood issues, business dealings, divorce, custody, property settlement, congregational problems, and family concerns.
Transformative mediation allows and supports the parties in mediation to determine the direction of their own process. The mediator assists the parties in structuring both the process and desired outcome of their mediation. Thus, the disputants play a major role in deciding what they want out of mediation and how they want to approach their issues.
MSAC’s training in Transformative Mediation will be held Saturday, June 29, 9AM-5PM and Sunday, June 30, 9 AM-5 PM, to be followed by 4-6 hours of additional role plays at a time and place to be decided by the participants. The training will be conducted at the United Lutheran Seminary in the Aberly Room on the second floor of Valentine Hall. Lunch is included on both days.
The cost of the Transformative Mediation Training is $250, a fee that will be refunded to anyone who chooses to share their skills by volunteering with MSAC.
The Training will be conducted by Susan Jordan, Executive Director of Susquehanna Valley Mediation, and Patti Robinson, Board President of Mediation Services of Adams County. Susan is a mediation professional with over a decade of experience in conflict transformation and non-profit management. She is also a certified mediator and trainer through the Institute for the Study of Conflict Transformation (ISCT) and a member of ISCT’s Board of Directors. Patti is a New York State certified mediator and has over 15 years of mediation experience in divorce, family, small claims mediation, small claims arbitration, police/citizen, elderly, and child welfare permanency mediation. She is also a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA).
This training will focus on the theory of transformative mediation, as well as the framework and tools for conducting mediations and resolving personal conflicts. Why not add this exciting new skill to your toolbox?