10am-noon
The impact of separation and divorce on the family
Separation and divorce have been evidenced as one of the most stressful life events a family can experience. Children’s chances are strongly influenced by their parents’ relationship, whether they are together or separated. Exposure to parental conflict can have long-term negative impacts on children’s early emotional, behavioural, cognitive and social development. Academic research from around the world has evidenced that frequent, intense and poorly resolved conflict causes stress and depression for the whole family including children, undermining their education and employment prospects.
The Parenting Apart Programme
The intervention is evidence-based and designed to engage and positively support these parents to put aside conflict in their relationship and find a way to be competent and considerate co-parents to their children going forwards.
The unique structure of the programme has been created to centrally focus the minds of the parents on the psychological needs of their child, through a strengths-based, attachment-focused approach. It is a structured intervention, drawing on ideas from couples and family therapy, conflict resolution and communication theories to give the parents the best possible chance of developing a positive working relationship. Parents are educated on the impact of parental separation and divorce on children and are asked to show commitment to the prioritisation of the mental health and emotional well-being of their child(ren).
Throughout the Programme, parents access relationally-focused activities, guidance and motivational support, facilitated by a Practitioner. Parents are supported to come together, to reflect on how conflict has hindered their collaboration as separated parents and helped to navigate back from conflict in a way that can strengthen their trust in each other as parents
In September 2021, FMA committed itself to working towards becoming an environmentally sustainable organisation and encouraged members to do the same. The new Agreement to Mediate continues that encouragement.
We are offering a free workshop that will give you the opportunity to explore what practical steps you might take to reduce your carbon footprint and to demonstrate your commitment. This is on Wednesday 8 February from 2-4, and we will repeat it later in the year if it proves valuable.
An overview of how mental and emotional health challenges can present in mediation, and an opportunity to reflect on how we can respond in ways that recognise our commitments to inclusivity, accessibility, diversity, safety and compassion.
Trainer – Neil Robinson
This suite of 5 training courses is suited to those working towards accreditation and those who have recently completed their portfolio.
FMA has designed this course to support both FMA members and non members who are just starting out in their careers and we are therefore only charging £95 + VAT. (the course will be maximum 25 delegates)
All courses will be from 10am – 12 Noon on Zoom.
As many of you are aware, FMA has developed a new two day training programme on the Integrated Approach to Family Mediation, run by Neil and Philippa, and the intention is to roll this out further, in a variety of formats and locations, in 2023. The training is intended to give confidence and “permission” to those wanting to expand their ambition in how they offer mediation, integrating not only other persons (such as in “lawyer-assisted” mediation) but also other skills, models and strategies. Day One is primarily presentation and discussion about theories and practice, Day Two largely an opportunity to gain confidence through role plays and case studies. Do come and join us!
This course is designed to introduce delegates to the law governing domestic abuse in England and Wales. Specifically it will cover the definition of domestic abuse as set out in the new Domestic Abuse Act 2021, as well as going over the civil orders (non-molestation and occupation) that are available under Part IV of the Family Law Act 1996. Venetia will also take time to consider the practical aspects of applying for these protective orders and look at the interaction between domestic abuse and child arrangements. The course is 2 hours and includes a case study and wider case discussion to help provide context to this area of law.
Trainers:
Claire Webb – Mediation Now
Claire has worked in family law since 1990, She co-founded Mediation Now with Rebecca Hawkins in 2007 and between 2007 and 2010 Claire combined her mediation and legal practice. In 2010 she stepped down as a Director of her legal practice to focus on mediation, working as a Consultant until 2015 when she left to concentrate solely on mediation and reducing parental conflict for children.
Mediation Now offers legally aided and privately funded mediation.
In 2013 with Helen Savage, Claire and Rebecca developed a communications programme, Changing Lives, which secured funding from the DWP Innovation Fund. This aimed to help separated parents work together for the benefit of their children. It was expanded further in 2019, becoming ‘New Foundations’ and again Mediation Now was awarded funding by the DWP through the Reducing Parental Conflict Programme. The course involved children, who were able to share their wishes, feelings, hopes and expectations which enabled parents to think differently about their co-operative parenting strategy, and reduce their conflict. The external evaluation of the programme showed significant improvement in the 50 families reached. That programme continues to run, on a private fee basis.
Claire is also a Collaborative Lawyer (Resolution trained) and a specialist in Child Inclusive Mediation (CIM), Claire is also trained as Civil Mediator through ADRg and offers hybrid and co-mediation. She is a qualified Arbitrator in children and finances cases.
Claire qualified as a Parenting Coordinator in 2019. She is a mentor to other mediators as their PPC and is 1-2-1 peer mentor for Resolution.
Claire sits as the mediator member of the Family Justice Council and is a member of the Local Family Justice Board. Claire also sits on the Family Mediation Council’s training panel.
In relation to Child Protection Mediation, Claire is working closely with two Local Authorities and What Works for Children in Social Care to pilot when and how mediation works best for families within the Public Law system. Claire is also a Family Law Supervisor.
Helen Savage
Formerly a family solicitor in London and Hampshire, Helen has focussed on family
mediation since 2010.
On behalf of Mediation Now, Helen developed the Changing Lives
Now and New Foundations programmes, both of which support separated parents in
reducing conflict and improving communication. In 2015 Portsmouth County Court
estimated that Changing Lives had saved 1 month of family court time over a 12 month
period.
Helen is also the CEO of Southampton Family Trust, a charity which assists disadvantaged
families where a child is at risk of harm. On behalf of SFT, Helen delivers parenting
programmes such as Incredible Years, Strengthening Families and Building Respectful
Families. She also supports parents in reducing levels of conflict in the home.
Helen provides training for schools and Southampton City Council on developing a trauma
informed practice. She trains facilitators to deliver Prepare Enrich (a relationship education
programme) and delivers relationship enrichment to groups.
Helen co–designed the FAB (Feelings Affect Behaviour) for mums who have been victims of domestic abuse and Make the Most of your Relationships for mums with post–natal
depression.
This course looks at the importance of financial disclosure within the mediation process and how to then work with the parties following the exchange of disclosure to move towards solutions focusing upon the available resources to meet parties’ future needs.
Trainer – Sally Clark
Trainers:
Claire Webb – Mediation Now
Claire has worked in family law since 1990, She co-founded Mediation Now with Rebecca Hawkins in 2007 and between 2007 and 2010 Claire combined her mediation and legal practice. In 2010 she stepped down as a Director of her legal practice to focus on mediation, working as a Consultant until 2015 when she left to concentrate solely on mediation and reducing parental conflict for children.
Mediation Now offers legally aided and privately funded mediation.
In 2013 with Helen Savage, Claire and Rebecca developed a communications programme, Changing Lives, which secured funding from the DWP Innovation Fund. This aimed to help separated parents work together for the benefit of their children. It was expanded further in 2019, becoming ‘New Foundations’ and again Mediation Now was awarded funding by the DWP through the Reducing Parental Conflict Programme. The course involved children, who were able to share their wishes, feelings, hopes and expectations which enabled parents to think differently about their co-operative parenting strategy, and reduce their conflict. The external evaluation of the programme showed significant improvement in the 50 families reached. That programme continues to run, on a private fee basis.
Claire is also a Collaborative Lawyer (Resolution trained) and a specialist in Child Inclusive Mediation (CIM), Claire is also trained as Civil Mediator through ADRg and offers hybrid and co-mediation. She is a qualified Arbitrator in children and finances cases.
Claire qualified as a Parenting Coordinator in 2019. She is a mentor to other mediators as their PPC and is 1-2-1 peer mentor for Resolution.
Claire sits as the mediator member of the Family Justice Council and is a member of the Local Family Justice Board. Claire also sits on the Family Mediation Council’s training panel.
In relation to Child Protection Mediation, Claire is working closely with two Local Authorities and What Works for Children in Social Care to pilot when and how mediation works best for families within the Public Law system. Claire is also a Family Law Supervisor.
Helen Savage
Formerly a family solicitor in London and Hampshire, Helen has focussed on family
mediation since 2010.
On behalf of Mediation Now, Helen developed the Changing Lives
Now and New Foundations programmes, both of which support separated parents in
reducing conflict and improving communication. In 2015 Portsmouth County Court
estimated that Changing Lives had saved 1 month of family court time over a 12 month
period.
Helen is also the CEO of Southampton Family Trust, a charity which assists disadvantaged
families where a child is at risk of harm. On behalf of SFT, Helen delivers parenting
programmes such as Incredible Years, Strengthening Families and Building Respectful
Families. She also supports parents in reducing levels of conflict in the home.
Helen provides training for schools and Southampton City Council on developing a trauma
informed practice. She trains facilitators to deliver Prepare Enrich (a relationship education
programme) and delivers relationship enrichment to groups.
Helen co–designed the FAB (Feelings Affect Behaviour) for mums who have been victims of domestic abuse and Make the Most of your Relationships for mums with post–natal
depression.
2 hours
The role of mediation support staff:
Covering:
Trainers:
Claire Webb – Mediation Now
Claire has worked in family law since 1990, She co-founded Mediation Now with Rebecca Hawkins in 2007 and between 2007 and 2010 Claire combined her mediation and legal practice. In 2010 she stepped down as a Director of her legal practice to focus on mediation, working as a Consultant until 2015 when she left to concentrate solely on mediation and reducing parental conflict for children.
Mediation Now offers legally aided and privately funded mediation.
In 2013 with Helen Savage, Claire and Rebecca developed a communications programme, Changing Lives, which secured funding from the DWP Innovation Fund. This aimed to help separated parents work together for the benefit of their children. It was expanded further in 2019, becoming ‘New Foundations’ and again Mediation Now was awarded funding by the DWP through the Reducing Parental Conflict Programme. The course involved children, who were able to share their wishes, feelings, hopes and expectations which enabled parents to think differently about their co-operative parenting strategy, and reduce their conflict. The external evaluation of the programme showed significant improvement in the 50 families reached. That programme continues to run, on a private fee basis.
Claire is also a Collaborative Lawyer (Resolution trained) and a specialist in Child Inclusive Mediation (CIM), Claire is also trained as Civil Mediator through ADRg and offers hybrid and co-mediation. She is a qualified Arbitrator in children and finances cases.
Claire qualified as a Parenting Coordinator in 2019. She is a mentor to other mediators as their PPC and is 1-2-1 peer mentor for Resolution.
Claire sits as the mediator member of the Family Justice Council and is a member of the Local Family Justice Board. Claire also sits on the Family Mediation Council’s training panel.
In relation to Child Protection Mediation, Claire is working closely with two Local Authorities and What Works for Children in Social Care to pilot when and how mediation works best for families within the Public Law system. Claire is also a Family Law Supervisor.
Helen Savage
Formerly a family solicitor in London and Hampshire, Helen has focussed on family
mediation since 2010.
On behalf of Mediation Now, Helen developed the Changing Lives
Now and New Foundations programmes, both of which support separated parents in
reducing conflict and improving communication. In 2015 Portsmouth County Court
estimated that Changing Lives had saved 1 month of family court time over a 12 month
period.
Helen is also the CEO of Southampton Family Trust, a charity which assists disadvantaged
families where a child is at risk of harm. On behalf of SFT, Helen delivers parenting
programmes such as Incredible Years, Strengthening Families and Building Respectful
Families. She also supports parents in reducing levels of conflict in the home.
Helen provides training for schools and Southampton City Council on developing a trauma
informed practice. She trains facilitators to deliver Prepare Enrich (a relationship education
programme) and delivers relationship enrichment to groups.
Helen co–designed the FAB (Feelings Affect Behaviour) for mums who have been victims of domestic abuse and Make the Most of your Relationships for mums with post–natal
depression.
2 hours
The course is to help mediators and legal professionals consider the impact of work on their professional and personal selves. Vicarious trauma relates to the chronic exposure to stories of sadness, grief and trauma in divorce and separation breakdowns. Chronic exposure to disturbing events can challenge fundamental beliefs about professional’s safety and security in the world and lead to burn out. This course will identify what vicarious trauma is in more depth. The course will help with self-compassion techniques to help you through difficult times. In addition, provide you skills in identifying vicarious trauma in working with other colleagues.
This document is an overview of resources, to be read alongside the PowerPoint presentation.
You can find the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act in full at https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2020/11/contents/enacted
You can find a good survey of the legislation at: https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/topics/family-and-children/no-fault-divorce
You can point clients to https://www.gov.uk/divorce to find out about applying online – the whole of www.gov.uk is a good resource for clients and mediators. You can see the latest (May 2021) information about the working of the online systems at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/hmcts-services-online-divorce-and-financial-remedy
You can find the February message from the President of the Family Division, called ‘The Road Ahead 2021’, at https://www.judiciary.uk/announcements/message-from-the-president-of-the-family-division-the-road-ahead-2021/ With its Annex on remote hearings, including guidance on good practice, it is 11 pages long and gives a good sense of what many court hearings are still like.
You can have a look at the structure of the Financial Remedy Court in this court service Organogram, published on 1 October 2021. https://www.judiciary.uk/announcements/financial-remedy-court-organogram/
The Farquhar Committee has produced two reports on practice and procedures in this court, published in May and October 2021, including some really interesting statistics on the 2019 functioning of the court. You can find both at https://www.judiciary.uk/publications/reports-of-the-farquhar-committee-on-the-financial-remedies-court-parts-12/
Interesting Nuffield Family Justice Observatory materials can be found at: https://www.nuffieldfjo.org.uk/resources and the webinar mentioned in the Powerpoint can be found here: https://www.nuffieldfjo.org.uk/news/webinar-remote-hearings-fair-covid-19 You can see their final report, published on 23 July 2021, at https://www.nuffieldfjo.org.uk/resource/remote-hearings-post-pandemic
Anonymity – a good survey in https://unit.law/2021/11/16/redressing-the-balance-in-the-financial-remedies-court/, albeit one definitely slanted in favour of less anonymity in financial cases.
Mediators really don’t need a detailed understanding of the Family Procedure Rules 2010 (FPR 2010) but if you are interested, you can find them here: http://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/family/rules_pd_menu Part 3 deals with non-court dispute resolution. Part 28 deals with costs and Practice Direction 28A on costs includes the duty to negotiate reasonably currently hitting the (law report) headlines.
You can see a fact-sheet guide to the new Domestic Abuse Act 2021 here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/domestic-abuse-bill-2020-factsheets/domestic-abuse-bill-2020-overarching-factsheet and you can find information about the Harm Panel report here: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2020-06-25/HCWS313
A reference document with case reports is attached – it includes a case report (but not the full text of the judgment) for each case mentioned in the Powerpoint – and a few others. The cases in the Powerpoint have green case names, the other have purple case names – the cases are in the same order as on the Powerpoint, with the ‘extras’ at the end (including the sample case we discussed). This 109 page document isn’t in any way intended to be read all the way through (unless you are already very bored indeed!) but is for reading more about any particular topic that you might be interested in. The case reports do not always contain all the legal thinking behind the decision, in the interests of keeping them reasonably accessible to mediators with no legal training (and the document under 110 pages!) If you are interested in looking at the original judgment for any case, rather than relying on the summaries, they can all be found at https://www.bailii.org/
This online training session introduces concepts originating in Linguistics which will raise awareness of some of the more subtle language habits of people in disputes and their mediators. This is not a quick fix or a checklist of things to look out for. Rather, it is an introduction to those aspects of language and interaction which we may not notice in everyday life, but which can be the trigger for both worsening and improving relations between people.
The team (from Huddersfield University Linguistics):
Professor Lesley Jeffries is a researcher into the meaning of textual choices, whether these be in spoken or written, public or private language. Her publications include:
Jeffries, L., (2010a) Opposition in Discourse. London: Bloomsbury.
Jeffries, L., (2010b) Critical Stylistics: The Power of English. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Jeffries, L. and Walker, B. (2017) Keywords in the Press: The New Labour Years. London: Bloomsbury.
Dr Jim O’Driscoll teaches and researches sociolinguistics and pragmatics, specialising in the study of language-in-situated-use. He is editor of the international Journal of Politeness Research (which includes the study of impoliteness!) and author of Offensive Language: Taboo, Offence and Social Control (Bloomsbury 2020).
Dr Matt Evans teaches stylistics and syntax at the University of Huddersfield, where he is assistant editor of Babel magazine. His research focuses on critical stylistic investigations into the meanings of contested words like ‘feminism’, ‘terror’ and ‘austerity’.
Together, the team has produced two publications specific to Language in Conflict:
Evans, M., Jeffries, L. and O’Driscoll, J. (2018) ‘Language in Conflict: Linguistics in Mediation’, in McIntyre, D. and Price, H. (editors) Applying Linguistics: Language and the Impact Agenda London: Routledge, pp.124-136
Evans, M., Jeffries, L. and O’Driscoll, J. (2019) The Routledge Handbook of Language in Conflict. London: Routledge.
This suite of 5 training courses is suited to those working towards accreditation and those who have recently completed their portfolio.
FMA has designed this course to support both FMA members and non members who are just starting out in their careers and we are therefore only charging £95 + VAT. (the course will be maximum 25 delegates)
All courses will be from 10am – 12 Noon on Zoom.
Most Mediators have a copy of Getting to Yes sitting somewhere on their bookshelves.
We know that it’s supposed to be a foundational text for much of the work we do, but it can be hard to remember exactly what and why.
This webinar tries to reconnect us with the work of Fisher and Ury, which includes not only Getting to Yes, but also Getting Past No, Beyond Reason, The Third Side and Beyond Machiavelli.
Collectively, there is a mine of insights, suggestions and techniques in these books. And while a two hour webinar cannot possibly unearth everything, we can remind ourselves why Fisher and Ury are held in such high regard in the fields of conflict resolution, negotiation and mediation.
The webinar is focused on practice, rather than just on theory.
The aim is to give ourselves more options and choices – in how we think and how we engage.
If there are any handouts or materials, they will be distributed prior to the event.
Trainer:
Michael Jacobs
Recent events have shown us that the mediation world can adapt to delivering high quality services remotely.
In this two-hour workshop we will run through the basic skills of online mediation including the practical use of technology, your environment and that of your clients, communication skills and facilitating remote mediations.
Trainer:
Anthony Syder
The workshop will be informed by 7 years of practical experience in remote family mediation and supported by the growing portfolio of academic research in the area as well.
As Family Mediators we can sometimes be a bit insular, relying on what we taught and what we know. It can feel like the world of mediation is more of less the same size as our practice – and, of course, this simply isn’t the case.
Mediation is a wide and diverse discipline, with a variety of approaches and techniques.
This webinar explores three different mediation models – Transformative, Family Therapeutic and Insight Mediation – to see how they might deepen and expand our current ways of both thinking and working.
The webinar will be a mixture of presentation and discussion.
Any reading and/or handouts will be distributed prior to the event.
Trainer:
Michael Jacobs
Trainer:
Michael Jacobs
This course will focus in more depth into position theory and social constructionism. Thinking about the meaning of language applied in mediation will be considered.
New ideas from communication theory and models will be taught and applied in this course. The course will be practical and applied straight into practice after the course.
Trainer:
Simon Shattock
Children experiencing a family breakup will feel a range of deep emotion and often one of these is despair and a loss of hope. As we focus on tuning into our children and their needs and helping them to talk, an understanding of how hope can be nurtured is extremely helpful.
Why is it important? Children who are hopeful are more optimistic, more satisfied, more resilient, have a feeling of control over their lives, are problem solvers and have stronger self- esteem. These are all attributes that will support children as they navigate the experience of separation and divorce.
In this workshop we’ll see that hope is, rather than an emotion, a cognitive process and way of thinking. Hope is a practice that can have a huge impact on mental health, wellbeing, relationships and how we all navigate tough times.
You’ll learn practical positive steps to nurture hope including building emotional intelligence, teaching goal setting, process praise and the importance of self-expression.
Trainer:
Heather Rutherford
Heather is a parenting coach, founder of The Parenting Partnership, parenting consultant to the school’s advisory service Talk Education, and a Care for the Family facilitator.
Heather’s mission is to share practical effective positive parenting skills that not only help parents raise happy, confident and resilient children but that transform family lives. In all her work, she draws on the latest research as well as her own experience of parenting three unique and sometimes challenging children while guiding her family through cancer and divorce.
Her goal is to empower parents with skills that include an understanding of temperament, growth mindset, emotional intelligence and positive discipline, that help them feel confident, calm and deeply connected to their children.
She has a particular interest in using these positive parenting skills to help families through the challenges of separation and divorce.
The pressure our kids feel to be perfect pervades our culture. It’s exhausting, stress inducing, can affect mental health and stops us all from being our best selves. Perfectionism, the unrelenting pursuit of the unattainable, can be tough to manage at the best of times, but when a child’s world turns upside down through a family breakup, it can be especially difficult for those who might find flexibility, adapting to change and shining a positive light on a tough situation more of a challenge.
Join our workshop where we’ll look at how to spot perfectionist tendencies, examine the pitfalls and set out five strategies to help combat perfectionist thinking including teaching self-awareness, a growth mindset and learning to embrace mistakes. These strategies help children to be courageous, confident, and authentic versions of themselves and build resilience to adapt to change and manage uncertainty.
Trainer:
Heather Rutherford
Heather is a parenting coach, founder of The Parenting Partnership, parenting consultant to the school’s advisory service Talk Education, and a Care for the Family facilitator.
Heather’s mission is to share practical effective positive parenting skills that not only help parents raise happy, confident and resilient children but that transform family lives. In all her work, she draws on the latest research as well as her own experience of parenting three unique and sometimes challenging children while guiding her family through cancer and divorce.
Her goal is to empower parents with skills that include an understanding of temperament, growth mindset, emotional intelligence and positive discipline, that help them feel confident, calm and deeply connected to their children.
She has a particular interest in using these positive parenting skills to help families through the challenges of separation and divorce.
Motivation is a hot topic for all parents and caregivers. We are forever trying to ‘motivate’ our children to cooperate, to work hard, to try new things, as well as to adjust or accept change. It can be a light bulb moment when we realise that we can’t ‘make’ our kids do things and be things. We may be able to motivate them in the very short term, but deep, intrinsic motivation must come from within.
Are there things that we can do that gently, positively, respectfully inspire and support motivation in our kids and guide their behaviour? Yes, absolutely there are. In this session, we’ll explore the qualities of motivation and understand why some kids are motivated, and others are not, and I’ll share practical strategies to help kids develop long lasting intrinsic motivation.
We’ll look at the research behind motivation and how we need to work hard to give our kids the agency and autonomy within the support structure of our families, whatever shape they might take. We examine how to tune in and acknowledge the sometimes-difficult feelings that constrain motivation and why it’s so important for children to find their spark, build independence and competencies. We look at the power of having role models who value and believe in these kids. Inspiring motivation is a vital tool to help children successfully adjust and transition during times of change and thrive.
Trainer:
Heather Rutherford
Heather is a parenting coach, founder of The Parenting Partnership, parenting consultant to the school’s advisory service Talk Education, and a Care for the Family facilitator.
Heather’s mission is to share practical effective positive parenting skills that not only help parents raise happy, confident and resilient children but that transform family lives. In all her work, she draws on the latest research as well as her own experience of parenting three unique and sometimes challenging children while guiding her family through cancer and divorce.
Her goal is to empower parents with skills that include an understanding of temperament, growth mindset, emotional intelligence and positive discipline, that help them feel confident, calm and deeply connected to their children.
She has a particular interest in using these positive parenting skills to help families through the challenges of separation and divorce.
In this session, we’ll look at how we can help children successfully navigate worry and anxiety. Change and transition, loss, and grief can all lead to big feelings both for us and our children.
We’ll learn how to be aware and accepting of children’s worries and fears. We’ll look at the brain science behind anxiety and explore the importance of being fully present and a safe space where children can voice all their big feelings. We’ll give parents tools to help manage their own stress so they can be fully emotionally available for their children and model healthy coping strategies.
We’ll learn how parents can explain anxiety in a way that children understand and help children develop the courage and confidence to bravely work through their feelings. These skills build understanding, trust, and connection, all vital to keeping children feeling safe and secure.
Trainer:
Heather Rutherford
Heather is a parenting coach, founder of The Parenting Partnership, parenting consultant to the school’s advisory service Talk Education, and a Care for the Family facilitator.
Heather’s mission is to share practical effective positive parenting skills that not only help parents raise happy, confident and resilient children but that transform family lives. In all her work, she draws on the latest research as well as her own experience of parenting three unique and sometimes challenging children while guiding her family through cancer and divorce.
Her goal is to empower parents with skills that include an understanding of temperament, growth mindset, emotional intelligence and positive discipline, that help them feel confident, calm and deeply connected to their children.
She has a particular interest in using these positive parenting skills to help families through the challenges of separation and divorce.
I am a parenting coach; I am divorced but most importantly I am a Mum to three teenagers. Navigating the transition through separation and divorce is emotional for everyone and can be incredibly challenging. Overwhelmed parents can find it hard to keep the needs of their children at the heart of the process.
Through my work and drawing on my experience, I help parents focus on the emotional journey and the needs of each unique child. Our goal is to help each child process the change, manage the transition, adjust, and thrive.
In a series of workshops for the FMA, we’ll look at tools that help parents tune into their children, become effective listeners, and help their children talk.
We explore how to give children the consistency, security, and structure they need to feel safe. We learn how to support children’s motivation, self-esteem, and self-worth during a time when they can feel fragile.
Armed with positive parenting skills and a clear understanding of each child’s needs, parents feel more confident, more compassionate, and more emotionally connected to their children – during and after divorce.
In this first session, Parenting through Separation and Divorce, we look at what children need and the vital role of parental presence. How can parents help their children feel safe, understood, and secure?
We look at how the appreciation of each child’s unique temperament plays an important role in tuning into their needs. We learn how to support the different emotional journeys through divorce and how to help children adjust while deepening the ongoing connection. We’ll learn the skill of Descriptive Praise, to support motivation, self-esteem, improve behaviour and deepen the relationship.
We explore how to give children the structure, predictability, and consistency they need to feel respected, safe, and connected to each of their parents during the transition and change that divorce inevitably brings.
Trainer:
Heather Rutherford
Heather is a parenting coach, founder of The Parenting Partnership, parenting consultant to the school’s advisory service Talk Education, and a Care for the Family facilitator.
Heather’s mission is to share practical effective positive parenting skills that not only help parents raise happy, confident and resilient children but that transform family lives. In all her work, she draws on the latest research as well as her own experience of parenting three unique and sometimes challenging children while guiding her family through cancer and divorce.
Her goal is to empower parents with skills that include an understanding of temperament, growth mindset, emotional intelligence and positive discipline, that help them feel confident, calm and deeply connected to their children.
She has a particular interest in using these positive parenting skills to help families through the challenges of separation and divorce.
Many, if not most parents we work with in mediation, will be struggling to keep their head above water; struggling to manage their emotions, the practical realities of separation, the grief, the uncertain future ahead. With all of this, it is hardly surprising that tensions run high, conflict is a daily challenge, and it is difficult if not impossible to focus on what their children need from them as parents.
This workshop will share research on the impact of parental conflict on children. We will consider, in both small and large groups, using case studies and exercises, how we can share this information with parents, so that they can consider options from their child’s perspective, rather than from their own. How do we help parents keep the conversation centred on their child’s wellbeing, rather than the parents’ emotions? We will explore different techniques for achieving a child focused dialogue, sharing our own experiences with each other, to reach a best practice model that we feel comfortable with. The workshop will aim to increase the mediator’s confidence in approaching these topics with parents and improving outcomes for children.
Adrienne Cox
Whether you meet lots of children as part of the mediation process, just a few or haven’t really got started yet, this is a workshop aimed at increasing your confidence to meet with children.
It will provide a safe space for discussion and reflection about practice; what works well and what doesn’t work so well; and importantly, time to reflect on how we can get the most out of our conversations with children and young people. When they agree to meet with us, they are agreeing to put their hearts on their sleeves.
How can we help them to feel safe and feel able to share their experiences, thoughts, wishes and feelings with us?
I will share recent research with you in this area and share my ‘tips and tricks’ for helping children and young people to have a voice and get the most out of their meeting with us. The workshop will be made up of small group work for exercises and case study discussion, some presentation, large group discussions and an opportunity for questions.
Trainer:
Adrianne Cox
Trainers:
Claire Webb
Claire has worked in family law since 1990, She co-founded Mediation Now with Rebecca Hawkins in 2007 and between 2007 and 2010 Claire combined her mediation and legal practice. In 2010 she stepped down as a Director of her legal practice to focus on mediation, working as a Consultant until 2015 when she left to concentrate solely on mediation and reducing parental conflict for children.
Mediation Now offers legally aided and privately funded mediation.
In 2013 with Helen Savage, Claire and Rebecca developed a communications programme, Changing Lives, which secured funding from the DWP Innovation Fund. This aimed to help separated parents work together for the benefit of their children. It was expanded further in 2019, becoming ‘New Foundations’ and again Mediation Now was awarded funding by the DWP through the Reducing Parental Conflict Programme.
The course involved children, who were able to share their wishes, feelings, hopes and expectations which enabled parents to think differently about their co-operative parenting strategy, and reduce their conflict. The external evaluation of the programme showed significant improvement in the 50 families reached. That programme continues to run, on a private fee basis.
Claire is also a Collaborative Lawyer (Resolution trained).
A specialist in Child Inclusive Mediation (CIM), Claire is also trained as Civil Mediator through ADRg and offers hybrid and co-mediation. She is a qualified Arbitrator in children and finances cases.
Claire qualified as a Parenting Coordinator in 2019. She is a mentor to other mediators as their PPC and is 1-2-1 peer mentor for Resolution.
Claire sits as the mediator member of the Family Justice Council and is a member of the Local Family Justice Board. Claire also sits on the Family Mediation Council’s training panel. In relation to Child Protection Mediation, Claire is working closely with two Local Authorities and What Works for Children in Social Care to pilot when and how mediation works best for families within the Public Law system.
Claire is also a Family Law Supervisor.
Helen Savage
Formerly a family solicitor in London and Hampshire, Helen has focussed on family
mediation since 2010. On behalf of Mediation Now, Helen developed the Changing Lives
Now and New Foundations programmes, both of which support separated parents in
reducing conflict and improving communication.
In 2015 Portsmouth County Court estimated that Changing Lives had saved 1 month of family court time over a 12 month period.
Helen is also the CEO of Southampton Family Trust, a charity which assists disadvantaged
families where a child is at risk of harm. On behalf of SFT, Helen delivers parenting
programmes such as Incredible Years, Strengthening Families and Building Respectful
Families.
She also supports parents in reducing levels of conflict in the home.
Helen provides training for schools and Southampton City Council on developing a trauma
informed practice. She trains facilitators to deliver Prepare Enrich (a relationship education programme) and delivers relationship enrichment to groups.
Helen co–designed the FAB (Feelings Affect Behaviour) for mums who have been victims of domestic abuse and Make the Most of your Relationships for mums with post–natal
depression.
Trainers:
Claire has worked in family law since 1990, She co-founded Mediation Now with Rebecca Hawkins in 2007 and between 2007 and 2010 Claire combined her mediation and legal practice. In 2010 she stepped down as a Director of her legal practice to focus on mediation, working as a Consultant until 2015 when she left to concentrate solely on mediation and reducing parental conflict for children.
Mediation Now offers legally aided and privately funded mediation.
In 2013 with Helen Savage, Claire and Rebecca developed a communications programme, Changing Lives, which secured funding from the DWP Innovation Fund. This aimed to help separated parents work together for the benefit of their children. It was expanded further in 2019, becoming ‘New Foundations’ and again Mediation Now was awarded funding by the DWP through the Reducing Parental Conflict Programme. The course involved children, who were able to share their wishes, feelings, hopes and expectations which enabled parents to think differently about their co-operative parenting strategy, and reduce their conflict. The external evaluation of the programme showed significant improvement in the 50 families reached. That programme continues to run, on a private fee basis.
Claire is also a Collaborative Lawyer (Resolution trained).
A specialist in Child Inclusive Mediation (CIM), Claire is also trained as Civil Mediator through ADRg and offers hybrid and co-mediation. She is a qualified Arbitrator in children and finances cases.
Claire qualified as a Parenting Coordinator in 2019. She is a mentor to other mediators as their PPC and is 1-2-1 peer mentor for Resolution.
Claire sits as the mediator member of the Family Justice Council and is a member of the Local Family Justice Board. Claire also sits on the Family Mediation Council’s training panel. In relation to Child Protection Mediation, Claire is working closely with two Local Authorities and What Works for Children in Social Care to pilot when and how mediation works best for families within the Public Law system.
Claire is also a Family Law Supervisor.
Helen Savage
Formerly a family solicitor in London and Hampshire, Helen has focussed on family
mediation since 2010. On behalf of Mediation Now, Helen developed the Changing Lives
Now and New Foundations programmes, both of which support separated parents in
reducing conflict and improving communication. In 2015 Portsmouth County Court
estimated that Changing Lives had saved 1 month of family court time over a 12 month
period.
Helen is also the CEO of Southampton Family Trust, a charity which assists disadvantaged
families where a child is at risk of harm. On behalf of SFT, Helen delivers parenting
programmes such as Incredible Years, Strengthening Families and Building Respectful
Families.
She also supports parents in reducing levels of conflict in the home.
Helen provides training for schools and Southampton City Council on developing a trauma
informed practice. She trains facilitators to deliver Prepare Enrich (a relationship education programme) and delivers relationship enrichment to groups.
Helen co–designed the FAB (Feelings Affect Behaviour) for mums who have been victims of domestic abuse and Make the Most of your Relationships for mums with post–natal
depression.
Drawing on the shared wealth of experience of FMA mediators who have set up and run financially sustainable mediation practices, this interactive workshop will help you to think about all the things you need to have in place to set up a successful mediation business.
Whether you’ve just completed the foundation training course or have been working as a professional mediator for years, this workshop is for you if you’ve just set up or are thinking about setting up your own mediation practice.
You will be provided with ideas and resources to take away and use long after the workshop has finished!
Trainer: Anna Vollans and John Loram
an introduction to Adverse Childhood Experiences and the impact of trauma. Understand the effect of trauma and abuse on your clients’ reactions and behaviours. Consider changes you might make in order to adopt a trauma informed approach.
Trainers
Claire Webb – Mediation Now
Claire has worked in family law since 1990, She co-founded Mediation Now with Rebecca Hawkins in 2007 and between 2007 and 2010 Claire combined her mediation and legal practice. In 2010 she stepped down as a Director of her legal practice to focus on mediation, working as a Consultant until 2015 when she left to concentrate solely on mediation and reducing parental conflict for children.
Mediation Now offers legally aided and privately funded mediation.
In 2013 with Helen Savage, Claire and Rebecca developed a communications programme, Changing Lives, which secured funding from the DWP Innovation Fund. This aimed to help separated parents work together for the benefit of their children. It was expanded further in 2019, becoming ‘New Foundations’ and again Mediation Now was awarded funding by the DWP through the Reducing Parental Conflict Programme. The course involved children, who were able to share their wishes, feelings, hopes and expectations which enabled parents to think differently about their co-operative parenting strategy, and reduce their conflict. The external evaluation of the programme showed significant improvement in the 50 families reached. That programme continues to run, on a private fee basis.
Claire is also a Collaborative Lawyer (Resolution trained).
A specialist in Child Inclusive Mediation (CIM), Claire is also trained as Civil Mediator through ADRg and offers hybrid and co-mediation. She is a qualified Arbitrator in children and finances cases.
Claire qualified as a Parenting Coordinator in 2019.
She is a mentor to other mediators as their PPC and is 1-2-1 peer mentor for Resolution.
Claire sits as the mediator member of the Family Justice Council and is a member of the Local Family Justice Board. Claire also sits on the Family Mediation Council’s training panel.
In relation to Child Protection Mediation, Claire is working closely with two Local Authorities and What Works for Children in Social Care to pilot when and how mediation works best for families within the Public Law system.
Claire is also a Family Law Supervisor.
Helen Savage
Formerly a family solicitor in London and Hampshire, Helen has focussed on family
mediation since 2010. On behalf of Mediation Now, Helen developed the Changing Lives
Now and New Foundations programmes, both of which support separated parents in
reducing conflict and improving communication. In 2015 Portsmouth County Court
estimated that Changing Lives had saved 1 month of family court time over a 12 month
period.
Helen is also the CEO of Southampton Family Trust, a charity which assists disadvantaged
families where a child is at risk of harm. On behalf of SFT, Helen delivers parenting
programmes such as Incredible Years, Strengthening Families and Building Respectful
Families. She also supports parents in reducing levels of conflict in the home.
Helen provides training for schools and Southampton City Council on developing a trauma
informed practice. She trains facilitators to deliver Prepare Enrich (a relationship education programme) and delivers relationship enrichment to groups.
Helen co–designed the FAB (Feelings Affect Behaviour) for mums who have been victims of domestic abuse and Make the Most of your Relationships for mums with post–natal
depression.
Integrated Family Mediation for experienced mediators
Integrated Family Mediation (IFM) is not itself a new model but rather an approach or perspective which encourages the integration of many different strategies and theoretical bases from a variety of disciplines, to provide flexibility and opportunity for families. IFM also encourages the integration of other professionals and supporters into the process, not least in lawyer-assisted mediation.
This course is for mediators who want to adopt an holistic and flexible approach, drawing on a variety of skills, strategies and resources. It is particularly suitable for mediators who are interested in inviting lawyers and other professionals into the mediation space and in making use of strategies used by non-family mediators and others, in a principled and professional way.
Traditionally, advanced mediation training has focussed on increased specialisation such as Child Inclusive Practice and PPC training. Here is an opportunity to broaden your practice – like its sister discipline, Integrative Therapy, this approach (evolutionary, rather than new) is against fragmentation, and provides a way of develop your mediation training and expertise to a higher, more ambitious level, to meet the challenges of a world in which we are told “mediation is the default.”
A new on-line two-day course from FMA for accredited family mediators (those working towards accreditation but with a significant amount of mediation experience may also apply, with the support of their PPC)
Register here
A new on-line two-day course from FMA with
Philippa Johnson and Neil Robinson
with
Philippa Johnson and Neil Robinson
The course will particularly cover
Lawyer-supported mediation and collaboration with others
Working in and out of separate spaces and managing confidences
Integrating approaches from civil mediation and other dispute resolution models
And so each venture
Is a new beginning, a raid on the inarticulate,
With shabby equipment always deteriorating
In the general mess of imprecision of feeling,
Undisciplined squads of emotion.
(TS Eliot Four Quartets)
Mediators have been experimenting for many, many years with models that straddle the civil and family fields, with caucusing and the use of separate spaces, with the presence of lawyers and other professional supporters, and with modified forms of confidentiality.
Is this a new “hybrid” civil/ family model that requires a fresh qualification/ certificate?
Or is it simply a natural extension of the family mediator’s ability to work creatively and within boundaries, where what is required are confidence, experience, practice and an appropriate theoretical basis?
If – like us – you believe it’s the latter, do join us on this two-day on-line course where we will explore:
This workshop will deliver an integrated approach to preparing people for mediation – which would be a combination of psycho-education, motivational interviewing and therapeutic mediation.
Trainer: Karen Woodall
Effective Screening for Domestic Abuse in Mediation – Advanced Level
Trainer: Adrienne Cox
Adrienne ceased practice as a family law solicitor in 2000 to focus on mediation and become a Family Law Lecturer at Exeter University in. 2002. In 2013 she started her own private family mediation practice, which continues to grow and stopped lecturing in 2015. Adrienne joined the Family Mediation Standards Board in 2015 as one of its founder members, leading on working panels for both accreditation and training and was involved with, amongst other areas, implementing standards for child inclusive work and co ordinating the PPC Code of Practice. Adrienne retired from the FMSB in July 2020.
Adrienne has trained on mediation foundation training courses and has designed and run mediation courses on communication, child focused mediation and effective screening for domestic abuse, which are areas in which she has a particular interest. She has presented at various conferences in recent years, in the UK and abroad. Adrienne has been sitting on the Family Solutions Group which is a sub group of the Private Law Working Group.
Course objective
Effective and appropriate screening and assessment of mediation suitability is paramount in ensuring safe and positive outcomes in mediation. Research carried out by Anne Barlow and colleagues in ‘Creating Paths to Family Justice’ in 2017 found that “inadequate screening may lead to traumatic mediation experiences and / or unfair or dangerous outcomes.” This was again highlighted in the Assessing Risk of Harm report published in June 2020.
This course will provide participants with the skills to carry out more effective screening for domestic abuse, ensuring, as far as possible, that only clients that are suited to the mediation process proceed to mediation. It will highlight perpetrator tactics, the impact of domestic abuse on the victim/survivor and consider how to tell the difference between abuse and high conflict. There will be time to take questions on this topic and have a discussion about the challenges being faced by mediators, of screening for domestic abuse online and how these challenges are being overcome.
Who is this course for?
This course is for mediators of all levels but will aimed at experienced mediators to encourage a higher level of discussion of scenarios and challenges, appropriate to that level of expertise.
Course content
Course duration: 1 day
This course package is designed as an extension to the FMA’s foundation training for family mediation and is available to all FMA members and Non-members registered with the FMC as working towards accreditation (WTA). What do newly trained mediator need to be able to do in their practice, and show (in their portfolio ) and include the following topics
Enhancing knowledge of the law
Trainer: Philippa Johnson
Date 30 April 2021 10.00 am – 12 noon. ***Completed***
What key aspects of mediation practice/skill do WTA need to develop and how do they show this in their portfolio.
To include theory and underpinning knowledge and cross referencing against the relevant competences.
Trainer Vanessa Stirum
Date: 15 July 201 10.00 am – 12.00 noon
Portfolio preparation workshop. ***Completed***
You can still register for the remaining 1 courses.
Sharing and learning from examples of case commentaries/understanding what the assessor wants to see in the case commentaries and the reflective account.
Trainers: Philippa Johnson and Vanessa Stirum
Date 22 October 2021 10.00-12.00
Cost is £25 + VAT and is open members and non-members registered with the FMC and working towards accreditation (WTA).
Mediation revolves around the stories that the parties bring into the room. Reflecting on where these stories come from, how they get used – and most importantly, how they might be open to change – is at the heart of the work we do. Exploring some of the thinking behind the Narrative school of mediation is a useful way to deepen our understanding, while simultaneously adding to the available tools and interventions we can bring to our practice.
Trainer: Michael Jacob
Mindfulness has been described by Rob Nairn one of the founder figures of the Mindfulness Association as “knowing what is happening while it is happening”. Mindfulness fosters the quality of “beginner`s mind”. A meditation teacher, Shunryu Suzuki said that “in the beginner`s mind there are many possibilities, in the experts mind there are few”. When we think we know, when we engage in the world through our habitual thoughts and concepts and when we have a jaded sense that “we have seen it all before” we can close down our experience.
During this session we will explore: –
Trainer: – Sara Collins is an Accredited Mediator and Mindfulness Teacher. She has taught mindfulness to individuals, groups, pupils in Primary and Secondary schools and taken it into corporate board rooms. During lockdown Sara provided free mindfulness sessions via Zoom to support FMA mediators during those extraordinary times. Sara runs her own Family Mediation business in Peterborough.
Family mediators need to hold the needs of all parties in the mediation with care, but what if you have judgements of one or both parties.
How can you overcome judgement and partiality in your practice?
How can you model empathy in the face of resistance?
How can you genuinely develop the capacity for multipartiality?
Trainer: Ceri Buckmaster has been teaching the online series Building Restorative Skills and Systems for several years.
Read more about Ceri here
This course will focus on the couple dynamic and help mediators and understand what is happening, so they can find ways to navigate through the issues when there is high conflict. The course will look at the research about conflict and couple. Theory from systemic family therapy will be used alongside ideas from emotionally focused therapy. This course will provide ideas and skills to take away into practice immediately after the course.
Trainer: Simon Shattock Independent Trainer and Family & Systemic Psychotherapist
Biography
I am a Senior Lecturer at the Institute of Family Therapy. I have significant clinical experience in working with children who have experienced self-harm, eating disorders, conduct disorders, bereavement, trauma and interpersonal issues. I work with children and families coping with the adjustment of divorce and separation and have experience working across different cultures and religions. I have research interest into the impact of separated fathers. I have over 19 years’ experience of working in social care and mental health settings with both children and adults and worked for many years in the NHS in Specialist Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services. I currently also work as a Family and Systemic Psychotherapist in a Tier 4 adolescent unit in Hertfordshire CAMHS as well as in private practice in Wimpole Street, London. I have lectured on a number of different mental health courses at City University, Highgate Counselling Centre and the Tavistock Centre. I am currently completing a supervision training of other systemic family therapist and other professionals.
The neuroscience of trauma in children of divorce and separation, including mapping of the brain development, impact on the brain and feelings and psychological experience in children of parental separation. How to work with children’s fragmented sense of self in separation to provide protection and resilience.
Trainer: Karen Woodall
Read Karen’s Bio here
Building a multi modal service to meet the needs of parents who are separating. Identifying what services are necessary at what point and how to co-ordinate a joined up experience of support for families in crisis.
Trainer Karen Woodall
Read Karen’s Bio here
Understanding the pitfalls in psychological work with families at the point of separation and beyond. Identifying when a client is ready to make decisions and use of mapping tools to understand what the resistant client is really saying.
Trainer Karen Woodall
Karen’s Bio can be found here
Introducing a six module online course which can be delivered to parents prior to mediation to refocus the parental contract on the needs of the child. Includes short video clips which detail the psychological impact on children of family separation, the big risks to children and the help that parents can give to prevent children from entering into fixed positions of refusal or resistance to a parent’s incoming care.
Trainer: Karen Woodall
Read Karen’s Bio here
Use of motivational interviewing skills to help clients to differentiate issues, work out the core needs of an agreement and move to make final decisions. Understanding motivational language and the impact on client behaviour.
Trainer: Karen Woodall
Read Karen’s Bio here
Understanding empathic listening, use of transference in the mediation space and understanding client readiness to move into action based outcomes.
Trainer: Karen Woodall
Read Karen’s bio here
Basic introduction to using therapeutic skills to download the emotional and psychological suffering which accompanies divorce and separation to achieve greater readiness for mediated outcomes.
Trainer: Karen Woodall
Karen’s Bio can be found here
Psycho-education to support mediation
The use of psychological information and guidance to encourage and prepare parents to focus upon the needs of their children. Including information about how to talk with children, how to help parents to understand the child’s perspective and how to use parallel processing to teach parents new behavioural insights.
Trainer Karen Woodall
Karen’s Bio can be found here
When relationships end, the parties stop trying to fix the problems. In the time leading up to the finality of separation, grievances are raised, fought about and there is some catharsis. After separation, feelings can well up and there is no outlet.
Pent-up feelings of disappointment or even betrayal continue to fester and will surface in mediation. Airing historic complaints runs counter to the principle that mediation is forward-looking and that the past cannot be changed.
The mediator’s dilemma is whether to allow a party to use the process to vent, risking an escalation, or to shut down the emotional outburst, risking a loss of trust by a client who believes in their right to be heard.
This workshop will look at some categories of grievances that parties want the mediator to hear, strategies for dealing with these strong feelings in the moment, and tactics that diffuse the need to be heard.
Trainer: Marion Korn
For more information on Marion can be found here
Using The Numbers as Another Tool In Mediation
This course looks at how to collect disclosure from mediation clients and how the resultant income, capital and pension figures can be used alongside the section 25 criteria to help clients work towards solutions with a focus on what resources are available to meet clients’ future needs.
Trainer Sally Clark
Mediation can show results and then falter, or even slow to a halt. Impasse can happen when a party displays anger, obstructs progress, doesn’t meet disclosure deadlines, holds unrealistic hardline positions or even threatens to end the process. As Mediators, we want to maintain a balance between our commitment to the voluntary nature of mediation including the client’s right to withdraw, and our own professional instinct to settle cases. Unlocking interests will not always solve problems. Financial incompetence, lack of strong communication skills, or the difference between visual and auditory intake and processing can derail the process.
This workshop will provide tips for isolating points of tension that can disrupt mediation and techniques and strategies for managing impasse.
IMPASSE is about THE PROBLEM, not THE PEOPLE
Trainer: Marion Korn
For more information on Marion can be found here
Parental Alienation: Recognition and Appropriate Responses in Mediation
This course introduces the concept of parental alienation as the reaction seen in the child which is caused by the parental dynamics in family separation. The course explains the way in which PA is differentiated from estrangement and includes understanding the spectrum of behaviour seen in families where PA is present. The course explores safeguarding as well as the use of PA as a false allegation and how to differentiate between these presentations.
Trainer: Nick Woodall
Nick’s bio –
Nick Woodall is a partner at the Family Separation Clinic in London, which specialises in treatment of children and families where alienation is a behavioural concern.
Nick is a qualified psychotherapist holding a masters degree from Goldsmiths University in London and has co-authored commercial books on the subject of family separation and parental alienation.
An expert witness in the family courts in the UK, Nick is also a co-founder of the European Association of Parental Alienation Practitioners, a network of senior clinicians working with relational trauma in divorce and separation.
Nick has trained for many organisations and government departments and co-wrote the training for the DWP and DfE in initiatives to assist families to work together after family separation.
Hearing criticism and complaints as feedback for growth and development
Criticism and complaints can be painful and hard to hear. They can take a lot of time and energy to process and the impact can be long lasting. How can we step away from taking criticism personally to focus on what the speaker is asking for and to see what useful information it might contain about how we can be more effective in our work?
In this session we will explore
Trainer: Sarah Ludford is a group facilitator, mediator, trainer and coach. She works with organisations, housing projects, schools, community groups, families and individuals. Her works facilitates clear and compassionate communication and understanding, improved wellbeing, collaboration, and walking towards and holding conflict with presence.
Sarah is known for her calm presence and capacity to be authentic and vulnerable in leadership. She helps organisations develop restorative approaches and increase resilience around conflict. She also runs training in Empathy Skills and Nonviolent Communication
Sarah trained in community mediation in 2000 and became an Advanced Practitioner in the Arts of Coaching in 2003. In 2015, she became a Certified Trainer with the Centre for Nonviolent Communication and she is a founder member of the Conflict Transformation Weave for the Nonviolent Communication UK network. She has also trained in NVC Mediation and Restorative Circles. For more information visit: Sarahludford.co.uk and ctw-uk.com
The FMC has just published the new standards and requirements for Child Inclusive Mediation practice and training WHICH COME INTO FORCE ON 1/9/18. Click here to view.
Trainer. Beverley Sayers
This course has been approved by the Family Mediation Council (FMC).
This one day course will bring you up to date with the changes and the new FMC standards. There is the requirement for ALL mediators to integrate elements of CIM into their regular practice and to be able to discuss with parents, from the Assessment meeting onwards, ways in which ‘the voice of the child’ may be heard.
It will give you experience in understanding how CIM works in practice and how to approach CIM with parents, along with the opportunity to consider its benefits and when it may be inappropriate.
The course will offer a range of input, discussions, role play and exercises.
This Course is required for All none CIM mediators, accredited or not, including those who do NOT intend to qualify in CIM, as well as those intending to quality in CIM Practice AFTER 1/9/18.
You MUST attend this or another One Day CIM Awareness and Understanding Course :
NOTE FOR EXISTING DCC QUALIFIED MEDIATORS
You do NOT need to attend this CIM Awareness Course….you (along with those CIM Qualified) will be required to attend a different One Day CIM UPDATE Course, by 1/1/20 or your first post 2018 re-accreditation date, whichever is the later. There are also additional CPD and practice requirements for DCC/CIM Mediators from 1/9/18.
FMA CHILD INCLUSIVE MEDIATION (CIM) UPDATE DAY
Trainer. (consist of) Ruth Smallacombe, Beverley Sayers and Ashley Palmer
This course has now been approved by the Family Mediation Council (FMC).
This Day has been designed for you, if you trained on any previous two day Direct Consultation with Children Course. We wanted to give you this early chance to do the training update and refresh your practice.
Whatever your experience level has been since DCC training and however much you include children and young people within your Mediations, it will bring you up to date with the developments in Research, Policy and Practice in relation to Child Inclusive Mediation. The course will give you greater confidence and fresh ideas in working with parents and directly with children.
You’ll be aware that all current DCC trained Mediators are now required to attend a CIM Update day in order to continue to see children within their practice.*
The landscape has changed significantly and Mediators who themselves are not DCC/CIM trained, are attending Awareness and Refresher courses to help them understand the model and how to discuss CIM with client/s at Intake stage onwards…..All mediators also need to set up a close link with a CIM Mediator or similar practice in order to refer cases and to co-work.
This is a certificated course which addresses the requirements of the new FMC CIM Standards and more!
Please contact the FMA office if you have any further queries.
*for full details, see FMC Standards Framework changes for CIM May 2018,
now part 6 of FMC Manual of Professional Standards and self-regulatory Framework 9/2014.
Criticism and complaints can be painful and hard to hear. They can take a lot of time and energy to process and the impact can be long lasting. How can we step away from taking criticism personally to focus on what the speaker is asking for and to see what useful information it might contain about how we can be more effective in our work?
In this session we will explore
our initial response to criticism and complaints
how not to take it personally
how to hear what the speak is trying to say
what we want to take on board and what we want to let go
Sarah Ludford is a group facilitator, mediator, trainer and coach. She works with organisations, housing projects, schools, community groups, families and individuals. Her works facilitates clear and compassionate communication and understanding, improved wellbeing, collaboration, and walking towards and holding conflict with presence.
Sarah is known for her calm presence and capacity to be authentic and vulnerable in leadership. She helps organisations develop restorative approaches and increase resilience around conflict. She also runs training in Empathy Skills and Nonviolent Communication
Sarah trained in community mediation in 2000 and became an Advanced Practitioner in the Arts of Coaching in 2003. In 2015, she became a Certified Trainer with the Centre for Nonviolent Communication and she is a founder member of the Conflict Transformation Weave for the Nonviolent Communication UK network. She has also trained in NVC Mediation and Restorative Circles. For more information visit: Sarahludford.co.uk and ctw-uk.com
A 1 day course divided into 2 half days
2.5 hours on Monday 7th September 1.00-3.30pm and a further 2.5 hours on Wednesday 9th September 2.00-4.30pm
Trainer: Beverley Sayers
Complementing and supporting these detailed requirements is the establishment of a professional relationship supporting and facilitating the growth of a mediator’s career and their personal development in this specialised field. The Course will develop the understanding required and provide resources to undertake this demanding role, identifying the theory, knowledge and information required in your supervision practice. This Course will help to update you on current mediation practice, from summary writing, FMCA through to recent changes in screening processes and complaints, and the work that the FMC are progressing on the new PPC Code of Practice and Complaints.
“Thank you for a very well presented day. I left feeling supported by the organisation and presenter who has a profound knowledge of mediators and supervision.”
“To be given bundle of up to date policies and practices is really helpful. Thank you.”
“Thank you for a brilliant day on Wednesday, a mountain of really useful and much needed information; I now feel better able to manage some of the issues that arise with my consultees.”
When impartiality is threatened: Connecting with Difficult Clients
No matter how hard we try to act with impartiality, we naturally warm more to some people than to others, and this can result in judgements beginning to creep in. Even when we work at maintaining impartiality our judgements and preferences can impact how we interact with and mediate between clients. In this 2 hour session we will explore
Universal Human Needs as a way of understanding behaviour
Our needs in relation to different clients and behaviours
Understanding the needs of people we find more challenging as a way of increasing connection and warmth
Sarah Ludford is a group facilitator, mediator, trainer and coach. She works with organisations, housing projects, schools, community groups, families and individuals. Her works facilitates clear and compassionate communication and understanding, improved wellbeing, collaboration, and walking towards and holding conflict with presence.
Sarah is known for her calm presence and capacity to be authentic and vulnerable in leadership. She helps organisations develop restorative approaches and increase resilience around conflict. She also runs training in Empathy Skills and Nonviolent Communication
Sarah trained in community mediation in 2000 and became an Advanced Practitioner in the Arts of Coaching in 2003. In 2015, she became a Certified Trainer with the Centre for Nonviolent Communication and she is a founder member of the Conflict Transformation Weave for the Nonviolent Communication UK network. She has also trained in NVC Mediation and Restorative Circles. For more information visit: Sarahludford.co.uk and ctw-uk.com
The internet has changed the way clients consume everything, including mediation. As a result of the long lockdown, they may become ever more adept at locating the services they want and need. Will they emerge, much more sensitive to the efficiencies of cost, time and process?
As service providers, we can take advantage of the more discriminating marketplace by clarifying for ourselves our “ideal” client. In doing so, we are able to make our work lives more fulfilling. Casting a smaller net can yield a bigger catch. By inviting the public to understand what they can expect in working with you, expectations are managed on both sides.
This interactive workshop will explore the reflections and actions that help you build the client base you want to work with and how to attract them.
“My interest in conflict resolution extends back to my childhood. My dad was often called upon to bring parties together in our community- sometimes it was family businesses, other times labour disputes and once a prominent family facing strife and discord. I have had a fortunate career following in his large footsteps. My law career merged with dispute resolution in the 1990’s, first when I became a mediator and a few years later when Collaborative Law started to blossom. My work with couples and families along with my great privilege to train and educate others, has made for a rewarding professional life. It is my hope that those who engage in the practice of conflict resolver can find joy and satisfaction in their important work. “ Marion Korn
Marion is a lawyer with a Master’s degree in law, specializing in Dispute Resolution. She is a certified Mediator and an international trainer, offering courses and workshops in Canada, UK, Australia and US. Marion is the author of When Harry Left Sally: Finding your way through Grey Divorce, a client focussed guide to making good choices. She has been a principal in a mediation company, Mutual Solutions, offering clients a streamlined, interdisciplinary, cost effective mediation service. Marion resides in Toronto Canada with her husband and they travel often to the UK to visit their children and grandchildren.
The aim of this training is to introduce family mediators to basic tax issues likely to come up for a separating couple, and then build on those basics – a sort of Tax 101. Tax sits in the background of all financial decisions, and separating assets on divorce is no exception, particularly where there are significant assets between the parties. With both parties getting less than they want, losing money to tax only makes matters worse for both of them. This workshop will start with the very basics, and work up from there: no prior tax knowledge is needed! The focus will be on Capital Gains Tax, but we will also consider Stamp Duty Land Tax, and Inheritance Tax.
Jacob Cork is a Senior Associate at Mills & Reeve, advising on estate planning and tax, particularly for wealthy or international families and trusts. Jacob works closely with the very strong Mills & Reeve Family Team, advising behind the scenes on the various tax issues that can arise on divorce or separation.
A child who rejects a parent without justification will show distinct clinical markers which raise a flag that warrants further investigation. Likening alienation of a child to a non accidental injury of the mind, Karen Woodall shows why alienation is a child protection issue and how intervention in serious cases requires that the child is protected from harm at the outset.
Trainer: Karen Woodall
Biography
Working with families affected by alienation
Families affected by alienation have a particular set of needs which set them apart from the general population affected by divorce and separation. In this session, Karen Woodall shows how the individual needs of the family affected by a child’s rejection of a parent, can be understood and met whilst intervening to bring about collective change. Limitations of mediation are explored along with the key interventions which front line mediators can use to create change.
Trainer: Karen Woodall
Biography
Understanding the Alienated Child
(Pre-record with a 1 hour Q and A on 25.6.21 11.00am)
The alienated child presents with particular clinical markers which differentiate their experience from the child who is rejecting because of harm or neglect. Karen Woodall has spent fifteen years with alienated children and shows how to understand the clinical markers as well as how to work with alienated children to help them speak from their authentic voice.
Trainer: Karen Woodall
Biography
The Child’s Developmental Journey through Divorce and Separation – The Neuroscience of Change
So much more is known about the development of children’s brains and the way in which this is supported by relationships with all important adults in their lives. For children of divorce and separation, a break in those relationships can have an impact on the their neuro-development, meaning that some relational opportunities are lost or missed. Karen Woodall shows how to mitigate this risk by helping parents to understand the importance of family relationships for children of divorce and separation through all age groups and developmental stages.
Trainer: Karen Woodall
Biography
Putting Children First in Mediation – Building Parent Partnerships
Children’s needs in all work after divorce and separation must be regarded as paramount, but what does this mean in practice? Working from the perspective of children’s wellbeing, Karen Woodall from the Family Separation Clinic, looks at how mediation can refocus parents on a partnership which puts their child’s needs first and how this can be supported by frontline workers who often meet families when they are at their most vulnerable.
Trainer: Karen Woodall
Biography
How do we assess effectively and mediate safely when there are issues of mental health and capacity to consider? Does mediation look any different viewed through a frame of compassion? How can mediators help to address family conflict when existing vulnerabilities are magnified by increased isolation and remoteness? And how do we safeguard our own mental well-being?
Neil Robinson is an FMA PPC and a Mental Health Tribunal Judge (online!) He is interrupting his current world tour with his remote singing group Fish From Oblivion to squeeze his six Family Law Journal Conversation Pieces on Mental Health and Mediation into a two hour Zoominar, and still hopefully leave time for healthy discussion.
Simon Shattock: Independent Trainer and Family & Systemic Psychotherapist
Aims for the day
The aim of the training would be to consider the psychological dilemmas for children and parents when there has been separation and/or divorce. I will consider the impact of non-resident fathers on children’s mental state, and discuss some of the challenges fathers have experienced in parenting post separation and divorce. I will also include the issues for mothers in this position and the psychological impact on the children.
I will explore the latest research in the field of divorce and separation and I will discuss different systemic models of intervention. These types of interventions can be used in conjunction with the mediator’s current skills, when working in the moment with clients who maybe in a heightened state of anxiety, stress and conflict. Specific systemic questioning skills will be practised in the day, with a view of taking these ideas back into mediators current work practice. I will bring together models from the systemic family therapy field, to help consider ways of thinking and intervening to help mediators deescalate the conflict.
1 hour Zoom session
Our wonderful FMA Foundation Trainers have very kindly agreed to host a one hour Zoom online session for those who are working towards accreditation. We fully appreciate those working towards accreditation have concerns regarding their portfolio and future. Our foundation trainers will hopefully help to alleviate any concerns or worries you may have.
Open to FMA members and non members but only open to those working towards accreditation.
Zoom Workshop – 1 hour
A one hour Wellbeing workshop with Beverley Sayers, Family Mediator, PPC, Psychotherapist and clinical supervisor.
In these extraordinary times, it can be challenging to take sufficient care of ourselves and our family. This is imperative for the potential impact on both our personal and professional lives. This free workshop will help you to review your Wellbeing and to focus on areas that can improve your Wellbeing for personal (and professional) benefit.
Online Zoom Course -2 hours
All too often, this sense of accomplishment is short-lived. Once back in the wider world, their communication no longer facilitated by a hard-working mediator, those agreements come adrift. Most of us have experienced the sense of disappointment when one party or the other gets back in touch to ask for their C100 so they can march off to court.
This webinar is an exploration around what we might do (and not do) to help parties emerge with more secure and sustainable agreements. We need to consider all stages of the mediation process – the initial assessment meeting, the joint session(s) and the possibility of post-session support.
The aim is not only to be more helpful to clients in the longer-term, but also to avoid those mediator moments of heart-sink and self-recrimination weeks or months down the line.
Virtually Face to Face – Tips and Tricks for Mediating Online
Many of us are working hard to adapt our practice so that we can continue to offer our mediation services online to the clients who need our help. FMA has organised some free training designed to support all our members in developing the new skills needed. If you would like help in making your online mediation sessions as effective as possible, please join Anthony Syder for a free one hour webinar, looking at some tips and tricks gained from 5 years’ experience of mediating online. We will cover some of the technical aspects of the platform Zoom as well more practical elements of mediating online, things to keep in mind and what can be learned from the limited, but growing pool of research available. Numbers are limited to allow sufficient time for questions and discussion at the conclusion of the presentation.
Biography
Anthony Syder has been working as a Family Mediator since becoming accredited in New Zealand in 2016. He is currently working towards accreditation after moving to the UK with his partner in mid 2019. Anthony works for FMC Staffordshire and FairWay resolution in New Zealand and specialises in video conferencing mediation, an area which he has researched and presented on previously.
Anthony also mediates commercial and private disputes having experience in Education, Telecommunication, Building & Construction and Workplace disputes.
Anthony holds a Masters in Human Rights, Graduate Diploma in Business Studies (Dispute Resolution) and Bachelor of Laws and is an Enrolled Barrister and Solicitor of the High Court of New Zealand.
FMA Members Only
Online Workshop – Zoom
Mindfulness Monday for Mediators
A one hour self care workshop with Sara Collins FMA board member, Family Mediator and Compassion Based Mindfulness Teacher. Sara hopes to bring a little calm and emotional first aid to her fellow Mediators in these turbulent times. This is an opportunity to stop for a moment to be guided through some short mindfulness practises and to just be with fellow mediators in an online space of calm compassion.
Please download Zoom before the workshop here
Join the workshop here
1 Day
FMA is delighted to invite you all to attend a special one day event in Derby. Rather than a theme, we have brought together a range of speakers covering topics from legal aid, through financial mediation to dealing with high conflict couples. FMA’s immediate past chair; Philippa Johnson will open the day. We want to hear you so there will be a panel discussion with questions and views sought from the floor. It will be a great chance to learn something, network and join in a discussion about mediation now and in the future and all with 5 CPD points at a bargain price. We do hope that you will join us in Derby!
Preliminary Programme can be found here
1 Day
Most mediators get pretty good at moving parties towards some form of agreement, usually around the practical details that need to be sorted out. Clients often leave our rooms feeling a sense of accomplishment.
All too often, this sense of accomplishment is short-lived. Once back in the wider world, their communication no longer facilitated by a hard-working mediator, those agreements come adrift. Most of us have experienced the sense of disappointment when one party or the other gets back in touch to ask for their C100 so they can march off to court.
This day is an exploration around what we might do (and not do) to help parties emerge with more secure and sustainable agreements. We need to consider all stages of the mediation process – the initial assessment meeting, the joint session(s) and even the possibility of post-session support. The aim of the day is not only to be more helpful to clients in the longer-term, but also to avoid those mediator moments of heart-sink and self-recrimination weeks or months down the line.
Trainer: Michael Jacobs
One Day
Trainer: Carrlie Norris
FMA is delighted to invite you all to attend a special one day event in Manchester. Rather than a theme, we have brought together a range of speakers covering topics from family law, through financial mediation, helping clients to future focus to helping parents with handovers. FMA’s immediate past chair; Philippa Johnson will open the day. We want to hear you so there will be a panel discussion with questions and views sought from the floor. It will be a great chance to learn something, network and join in a discussion about mediation now and in the future and all with 5 CPD points at a bargain price. We do hope that you will join us in Manchester!
Click here preliminary programme
This course introduces the use of mediation as part of a structured intervention which is delivered as a treatment route for PA and how mediation can play a part in triaging cases which can be treated from those which require more robust interventions.
Trainer: Karen Woodall
Biography
Simon Shattock
Independent Trainer and Family & Systemic Psychotherapist
Dealing with Couples in High Conflict
Training Event for Mediators and Legal Professionals
Aims for the day
This training is designed to re-engage hope for mediators and legal professionals who are trying to help reintroduce stability in couples where conflict has got out of control. I will explore the latest research in the field of systemic practice and other evidenced based methodologies to inform the mediation process through high conflict issues. The impact of conflict with be explored on the attachment styles of the couples. Mental health issues within the individuals and couple system will be explored in depth and how they impact on the conflict. Specific skills and approaches will be learnt to inform the mediator how to intervene when conflict arises. Techniques from Dialectical Behaviour Therapy will be used to help clients stop, think and reflect. I will bring together models from the systemic family therapy and social constructionism field to help consider ways of thinking and intervening to support mediators de-escalate the conflict into more helpful patterns of interaction. I will use a combination of lecturing, video material, role play and case studies.
Bio
I am a Senior Lecturer at the Institute of Family Therapy. I have significant clinical experience in working with children who have experienced self-harm, eating disorders, conduct disorders, bereavement, trauma and interpersonal issues. I work with children with families coping with the adjustment of divorce and separation and have experience working across different cultures and religions. I have research interest into the impact of separated fathers. I have over 18 years’ experience of working in social care and mental health settings with both children and adults and worked for many years in the NHS in Specialist Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services. I currently also work as a Family and Systemic Psychotherapist in a Tier 4 adolescent unit Hertfordshire CAMHS as well as in private practice in Wimpole Street, London. I am a visiting lecturer on a number of different mental health courses at City University, Highgate Counselling Centre and the Tavistock Centre.
FMA CHILD INCLUSIVE MEDIATION (CIM) UPDATE DAY
Trainer. (consist of) Ruth Smallacombe, Beverley Sayers and Ashley Palmer
This course has now been approved by the Family Mediation Council (FMC).
This Day has been designed for you, if you trained on any previous two day Direct Consultation with Children Course. We wanted to give you this early chance to do the training update and refresh your practice.
Whatever your experience level has been since DCC training and however much you include children and young people within your Mediations, it will bring you up to date with the developments in Research, Policy and Practice in relation to Child Inclusive Mediation. The course will give you greater confidence and fresh ideas in working with parents and directly with children.
You’ll be aware that all current DCC trained Mediators are now required to attend a CIM Update day in order to continue to see children within their practice.*
The landscape has changed significantly and Mediators who themselves are not DCC/CIM trained, are attending Awareness and Refresher courses to help them understand the model and how to discuss CIM with client/s at Intake stage onwards…..All mediators also need to set up a close link with a CIM Mediator or similar practice in order to refer cases and to co-work.
This is a certificated course which addresses the requirements of the new FMC CIM Standards and more!
Please contact the FMA office if you have any further queries.
*for full details, see FMC Standards Framework changes for CIM May 2018,
now part 6 of FMC Manual of Professional Standards and self-regulatory Framework 9/2014.
This 3 day Child Inclusive Mediation Training will replace the current 2 Day Child Consultation Training from 1/9/18 in line with the recently published FMC Standards. This course has been approved by FMC.
Hearing the ‘Voice of the child’ is a vital part of our role as Family Mediators; indeed we are required to offer this opportunity for children and young people aged 10 and over.
This course will enhance your work with parents and equip you with the skills and knowledge to directly include children and young people in the mediation process in a meaningful way. Where appropriate, their views can be taken forward into parental decision making as part of the mediation. These skills and techniques can be used as part of your mediation practice following FMA/FMC Policy and as a Child Consultant in Collaborative Practice where appropriate.
The course is highly participative with a mixture of role plays, discussions and presentations. It builds on our knowledge of child development and research and draws on the experience of Child Inclusive practice in the UK and other jurisdictions.
The course is assessed; it is open to Accredited Mediators and is 40 hours in total, which includes some preparatory study prior to the three training days and follow up tasks, to be completed after the course. Applicants must first have attended a one day CIM Awareness and Understanding Course.
The trainers are Ruth Smallacombe and Jenny Haslam. They were both members of the FMC Child Inclusive Mediation working group.
3 day Mediation Refresher training course.
FMA are offering a further opportunity to attend the well-received November Mediation Refresher Course. This will be an opportunity to refresh and re-enthuse your mediation practice.
Ideal for those working towards accreditation, or those who are returning to practice, as part of your training and development.
The Refresher course responds to the needs of:
a) mediators who are trained but not yet accredited and
b) mediators who are returning to practice and
c) mediators who want to update their practice
Contact FMA following contact with your PPC in first instance, for guidance on your individual situation if you are not clear and in particular to update your training and development plan.
The course content includes a comprehensive revision and update in policy and practice, from pre mediation Assessment Meetings to conclusion of mediation and written documentation.
There is a focus on mediation skills and bringing clients to agreement, effective process and conflict management.
The course will support those working towards accreditation, with a review of the current FMC Standards relating to accreditation and the FMC portfolio route.
Each candidate is asked to submit a plan of their individual development and learning needs, with the support of their PPC, in advance, so that we can accommodate particular issues and needs on the course.
The course will be participative and uses a variety of teaching and learning approaches. You will receive a certificate upon completion of the three days which can be used as evidence of commitment to your continuing professional development.
Some course preparation is required before the course starts and this suggested preparation will help you get the most from the course whilst re-introducing you to the important issues for family mediation today.
Parental Alienation: Recognition and Appropriate Responses in Mediation
This course introduces the concept of parental alienation as the reaction seen in the child which is caused by the parental dynamics in family separation. The course explains the way in which PA is differentiated from estrangement and includes understanding the spectrum of behaviour seen in families where PA is present. The course explores safeguarding as well as the use of PA as a false allegation and how to differentiate between these presentations.
Trainer: Karen Woodall
Biography
This training will include an introduction to Nonviolent communication and we will apply the principles of nonviolent communication to the dilemmas you face in your work, which could include:
In preparation for this training, please consider which dilemmas you need support with.
Trainer – Ceri Buckmaster
Ceri Buckmaster is a group facilitator, mediator and writer. She works in Sustainability and Community building with organisations, museums, galleries, schools, community groups and individuals. Her work facilitates clear and transparent interpersonal communication, greater understanding of trauma and the walking towards and holding of conflicts with presence and opening for transformation. Read More….
1 Day
Trainer: Cressida Burnet
1 Day
Trainer: Phil O’Connor
An excellent initial grounding for all mediators on things pensions on divorce. Would equally suit newly qualified mediators expanding their knowledge or experienced mediators looking to refresh and revitalise their knowledge!
2 days
2 day Relation Mediation course with Bill Hewlett
Bill Hewlett is the former Clinical Services Specialist in Family Dispute Resolution with Relationships Australia, and a lead trainer for the Australian Institute for Relationships Studies.
Bill has extensive experience in child inclusive mediation, having successfully practised as a Child Consultant for the past fifteen years.
As a consequence Bill has developed an innovative and effective training model of practice, which responds to the current challenges of the family law system specialising in working with highly conflicted clients.
Bill has published numerous articles on family issues and is frequently invited to present at conference and events internationally and through-out Australia.
What’s on offer?
Bill’s two-day intensive workshop offers training for practitioners who work with families where children are in danger of trauma due to parental conflict.
Attendees will be shown how to assist parents in high conflict to move from a position of absolute blame of each other to one of mutual support through being facilitated to recognise and acknowledge their own role in keeping the conflict alive.
This acknowledgement brings about an innate reduction in blame because it is impossible to hold someone else completely responsible when you have recognised that you have played a role in your own circumstances.
This newly found recognition is intended to build resilience in parents and in their families and help them to avoid future conflict due to a greater understanding of the relational ingredients that ensure post separation family harmony.
What participants will learn
1 Day
Trainer: Dominic Raeside
The training day will cover the Family Mediation Council Accreditation (FMCA) scheme and give practical assistance to both mediators and PPCs as to how to build a successful portfolio. Learn about the new accreditation process from Dominic Raeside who has been the chief assessor for the Family Mediation Council since 2007. In addition to his role as chief assessor for the FMC Dominic was appointed as the mediator representative on the Family Justice Council in 2013. He heads the mediation service at Family Law in Partnership, the first multidisciplinary practice in the UK and he trains both in the UK and internationally.
Trainer: Michael Jacobs
As mediators, our job is less about resolving conflict, then it is about facilitating conversations. This simple shift in emphasis can have a significant impact on how we understand our role and our work. This workshop is about promoting the belief that mediators should never be working harder than their clients.
To reduce our workloads means:
Sometimes it can be hard to remember that mediators are far and away the least important person in the room. This one-day workshop encourages us to occupy our role with more comfort and less stress.
1 Day
Relational Mediation
With Bill Hewlett, Clinical Services Specialist in Family Dispute Resolution, Relationships Australia NSW
This intensive workshop offers training for practitioners who work with families where children are in danger of trauma due to parental conflict.
Attendees will be shown how to assist parents in high conflict to move from a position of absolute blame of each other to one of mutual support through being facilitated to recognise and acknowledge their own role in keeping the conflict alive. This acknowledgement brings about an innate reduction in blame because it is impossible to hold someone else completely responsible when you have recognised that you have played a role in your own circumstances.
Once acquired, this newly found recognition will build resilience in parents and in their families and help them to avoid future conflict due to a greater understanding of the relational ingredients that ensure post separation family harmony.
This course is available for participants who wish to work in a child focused way.
Bill Hewlett is a Clinical Services Specialist in Family Dispute Resolution with Relationships Australia NSW, and a lead trainer for the Australian Institute for Relationships Studies. He has extensive experience in child inclusive mediation, having successfully practiced as a Child Consultant for the past fifteen years. This work has led Bill to develop an innovative and effective training model of practice, which responds to the current challenges of the family law system when working with highly conflicted clients. Bill has published articles on family issues and is frequently invited to present at conferences and events internationally and through-out Australia.
1 day
Provided by The Association for Cognitive Analytic Therapy
Cognitive Analytic therapy (CAT) was developed for use within the NHS to help difficult clients but has now far extended beyond this remit. CAT has been described as putting the best parts of all the therapies into one coherent whole. CAT looks at the relationships both between self to other, and self to self, to work out how change gets stuck or sabotaged. The concepts behind this use of relationships can be used to help examine what contributions both sides make to creating or diffusing conflict and how to constructively manage conflict using these ideas.
5 CPD
Trainer: Dominic Raeside
From 01/01/15 all family mediators will need to achieve accreditation with the Family Mediation Council (known as the FMCA) within three years of their family mediation training. For those mediators who trained prior to 01/01/15 they will need to submit their portfolio for assessment by 31/12/17. For those mediators able to submit their portfolio this year (by the end of 2015) mediators will be able to use the Assessment of Professional Practice (APC) otherwise the new FMCA accreditation portfolio will be required.
Following the professional standards and self-regulatory framework produced by Dr Stan Leicester in conjunction with many family mediators working in specific working groups, the FMC announced implementation of the new standards from the 01/01/15 and with it the new framework for accreditation. This new accreditation process will become the most common vehicle for attaining FMCA status. PPCs who may have undertaken the old competence assessment (formally assessed by the Legal Aid Board then the UK College of Family Mediators and from 2007 Family Mediation Council) need to be up to speed with helping their mediators build their portfolio. There are a number of new requirements including an additional 10 hours PPC to support mediators through the accreditation process, PPCs observing mediators mediate and mediators observing their PPC (or another FMCA mediator) mediate.
The training day will cover both the APC and the FMCA and give practical assistance to both mediators and PPC’s as to how to build a successful portfolio. Learn about the new accreditation process from Dominic Raeside who has been the chief assessor for the Family Mediation Council since 2007. In addition to his role as chief assessor for the FMC Dominic was appointed as the mediator representative on the Family Justice Council in 2013. He heads the mediation service at Family Law in Partnership, the first multidisciplinary practice in the UK and he trains both in the UK and internationally.
• to engage more authentically with clients — so they will engage more authentically with each other and the process
• to have a clearer sense of the power available to us as mediators
• to find ways of working with more joy and less effort
• to begin to see mediation as a form of social artistry
Trainer: Michael Jacobs
CPD: 5
Manipulation is a strong word. It implies that things are happening out of plain sight. And yet, if mediators are reluctant to be really clear about the assumptions underlying the process, or fail to make explicit their own thoughts and feelings — to what extent are we being manipulative? The day is an exploration of what it might mean to bring a greater transparency to our work.
Trainer is Beverley Sayers
5 CPD
You may have last considered your summary writing when you completed your assignments for your Mediation Foundation Course, or you may look at supervisee’s summaries on a regular basis. In either case this course will help you consider best practice in summary writing. We will address :-
We will look at structure, content, rationale, inclusion and handling of disclosure, use of notes for the schedule, how to summarize and conclude, and how to consider the audience that summaries need to be written for: clients, solicitors, client’s children, partners and relations.
We will also consider how well-drafted summaries can help your marketing and mediation practice profile. Practical exercises will help you consider how to put into practice what has been discussed.
Anyone who has met Beverley will know she has enormous passion for good summary writing and so is delighted to be running this course. She passionately believes that good summary writing is at the heart of good mediation practice and should encapsulate mediation principles and process at its very core.
