Mediation is an essential approach to solving conflicts in our communities and our society.  Mediators help people in conflict express their needs and discuss their concerns in a way that the legal system is not designed to allow. ,  Through the mediation process, people in conflict gain control over the outcome of a dispute, preserve relationships, and learn that conflict doesn’t have to be adversarial, but can be seen as a healthy and productive way to work through differences.

Mediators assist people in disputes in a variety of settings: neighbors, landlords and tenants, families, for profit and not for profit businesses, governments, and communities.  Mediators help prevent, manage, and respond to conflicts that arise between two or more people, and help themselves, their families, friends, and communities learn how to work together to resolve disputes.  Mediators help improve the ability of individuals, groups, and communities, to experience healthy conflict, and to communicate toward a better tomorrow than we have today.

Mediation is something that is learned by doing.  A person can learn everything there is to know about music and the piano, but it takes practices (and a lot of repetition) to play Mozart.  Mediation is no different, and involves self-study, learning, as well as guided practice with constructive feedback.

We’ve designed this virtual training to be flexible for scheduling, thorough and engaging, and to comply with local and national mediation standards.*  The format for this virtual training includes three key parts: large group training, small group learning; and self-guided learning and skill-building.

Large group (synchronous) learning and skill-building (24 hours):

• Everyone participating in the training will meet on 3 Saturdays for 8 hours (Feb 5th, Feb 19th, and March 5th) to learn from trainers through a combination of group exercises, lecture, practice.

Small group (synchronous) learning and skill-building (6 hours):

• Participants will meet outside of the large group training with coaches and mediators to practice mediation skills, scenarios, and role-play real-life situations taken from CDR’s 40 years of experience with conflict.  These small-group meetings will be scheduled based participant and coach schedules to allow flexibility and accessibility for trainees.

Self-guided learning (asynchronous)(10 hours):

• In-between weeks of synchronous group learning and skill-building, participants will be provided with materials to read, and an online self-guided learning software to provide learning that is visual, auditory, logical, and which will include videos, reading resources, written practice, and knowledge quizes.