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Introducing the 2024 Teacher Training Program

The Center for Understanding in Conflict’s training programs have been popular for over 40 years because the Understanding-Based approach resonates with many people. Our trainings are powerful experiential education, carefully designed and skillfully taught. After a successful 2022-23 cohort, we will continue to deepen and broaden the availability of understanding-based conflict resolution teachers, improve capacity to serve program participants, and support CUC community members in developing the skills to teach understanding-based conflict engagement in various contexts.

In 2024, CUC will again be offering an intensive Teacher Training Program, and we are excited to invite CUC’s extended community to consider applying to attend or financially support the program.

About the Program

CUC’s Teacher Training program is for those motivated to develop their ability to teach Understanding-Based conflict resolution skills to others. Over nine months, through a mix of in-person and online sessions along with self-reflection, reading, one-on-one and small group conversations, and projects between sessions, participants in the Teacher Training cohort will:

Learn how to teach CUC’s model, including the Center’s teaching style and Understanding-Based principles, concepts, and tools.
Work with CUC’s most experienced teachers, Gary Friedman and Catherine Conner.
Practice delivering Understanding-Based conflict resolution content.
Through self-reflection practices, explore and bring their authentic selves to their teaching.
Use various instructional methods and formats, informed by pedagogical best practices, to hold training space for all learners.
Understand the logistics of planning and executing a training.

The Teacher Training program will prepare participants to offer trainings wherever they are drawn.

* Participants also receive complimentary CUC Connect membership for the program, which includes access to monthly live webinars and over 50 recordings from past programs covering topics including looping, contracting, legal considerations, personality and conflict dynamics, practice building, and more ( a $3,000 value).

Program Schedule

The Teacher Training cohort will meet monthly from February though November 2024. Participants will be expected to attend all sessions. In addition, there will be assignments for additional work between meetings, peer conversations, and monthly optional small group meetings with the instructors.

The schedule will be:

Online
Friday 2/23/24 9:00 am – 1:00 pm Zoom

Friday 3/22/24 9:00 am – 1:00 pm Zoom

Friday 5/17/24 9:00 am – 1:00 pm Zoom

Friday 6/14/24 9:00 am – 1:00 pm Zoom

Friday 7/19/24 9:00 am – 1:00 pm Zoom

Friday 8/16/24 9:00 am – 1:00 pm Zoom

Friday 9/27/24 9:00 am – 1:00 pm Zoom

Friday 10/18/24 9:00 am – 1:00 pm Zoom

In Person
April 18 (Thursday) at 3 pm to April 21 (Sunday) at 3 pm • Ralston White Retreat in Mill Valley, CA

November 14 (Thursday) at 3 pm to November 17 (Sunday) at 3 pm Ralston White Retreat in Mill Valley, CA

Program Costs

The training fee is $4,000 per participant, with an additional anticipated combined cost of $1,250 for the two in-person, multi-day sessions for lodging and meals. Please note that a $1000 discount is available for individuals and nonprofit organizations.

Our training fees are based on the costs to CUC for offering this program, and we don’t want the cost to be a barrier to potential participants. We will be working diligently to pool and distribute resources in a way that makes access available to all who can benefit from this vital program.

If this program will be valuable to you and the work you do in your community, but the price is a concern, indicate that when you apply. CUC is also committed to being creative about making payments, including in installments.

Likewise, if you can attend and contribute more than the cost, please let us know. We also encourage all those who connect with the understanding-based model to help fund the teacher training. Our prior experience has been that the broader CUC community benefits from investing in the next generation of trainers and we welcome your support.

Application process

Applications for 2024 are now closed. Please contact [email protected] for information regarding the waitlist.

Applications Now Closed

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Facilitators

Gary J. Friedman has been practicing law as a mediator with Mediation Law Offices in Mill Valley, California since 1976, integrating mediative principles into the practice of law and the resolution of legal disputes. Co-founder of the Center for Understanding in Conflict (formerly the Center for Mediation in Law), he has been teaching mediation since 1980. Prior to his work as a mediator, he practiced law as a trial lawyer with Friedman and Friedman in Bridgeport, Connecticut. After several years as an advocate, he sought a new approach to resolving disputes through increasing the participation of the parties in the resolution of their differences. At that time, he and his colleague, Jack Himmelstein, began to develop the Understanding-based model that is now practiced extensively in the United States and Europe.

Catherine Conner has been a mediation and collaborative practice trainer since 2004. She is a frequent presenter at collaborative conferences and family law workshops. She authored Collaborative Practice Materials with Steven Neustadter and Margaret Anderson. Catherine Conner’s private practice focuses on family law alternate dispute resolution, including mediation, collaborative practice, and private judging. She graduated from the UC Berkeley School of Law, Boalt Hall in 1982 and is a founding partner of Conner, Lawrence, Rodney, Olhiser & Barrett, LLP. In 1992, Catherine became a Certified Family Law Specialist. She has been honored as the recipient of the Rex Sater Award for Excellence in Family Law, the Eureka award by Collaborative Practice California and was the 2018 honoree for Careers of Distinction. She was on the Board of Directors of the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals from 2007-2014 and served as the President in 2013.