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April 25 – 27, 2024

Rye, NY

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Join the Center for Understanding in Conflict for a comprehensive 24-hour Basic Mediation Training covering basic theory and skills of understanding-based mediation in a dynamic and engaging learning environment.

This certificate program teaches individuals the basic theories and practical skills needed to help people in conflict. Participants will learn to deescalate unproductive arguments and conflict dynamics and guide parties and lawyers involved toward positive discussions and effective decision-making. The training also covers how law and lawyers play a part in mediation, preparing participants to mediate conflicts in various settings including private contexts, court-referred cases, and community disputes.

Upon completing this training, participants will have completed the basic mediation requirement for part 146 and be eligible for Advanced Mediation training and continuing education programs, including the 16-hour Advanced Matrimonial Mediation Training course in May, 2024.  Together these two programs qualify participants for a 40-hour completion certificate.

Our trainers have designed this program to benefit those practicing in New York. However, it is appropriate and applicable for professionals of all disciplines, including jurists, lawyers, collaborative professionals, business consultants, executive coaches, managers and supervisors, human resources professionals, ombuds-people, non-profit staff, and other people whose work will be enhanced by increased skills in conflict resolution.

Core Concepts

In this 24-hour program, adapted from our gold standard mediation training, you will learn how to support parties working through conflict or engaging in other important conversations in a different way.  Our Understanding-Based model focuses on guiding parties to make knowing and informed choices together in a respectful manner.  Highlights include:

• Positive neutrality –supporting all parties without taking sides.
• The Loop of Understanding – enhancing understanding and empathy.
• Creative Options — innovating to meet differing needs and interests.
• A Foundation for the Future — building the groundwork for the parties to make effective and lasting decisions together now and in the future.

What is the Format of this Training?

This hands-on in person training features briefings on the core skills of the Understanding Based Approach, followed by lively demonstrations and role-plays, all of which immerse participants in the learning. Realistic simulations, in which participants work through mediations from beginning to end, with coaching from our teachers, offer participants the chance to hone their skills and experience the emotional challenges faced by parties in dispute. Participants describe these different modes of learning and their interplay as enjoyable as they are engaging and rewarding.

Logistics

The training begins on the morning of Thursday, April 25, 2024, at 9:00 am through 6:00 pm. On Friday, the session runs 9:00 am through 6:00 pm, with ample breaks for meals and rest. The program ends on Saturday, April 27, 2024, with a session from 9:00am – 5:00pm. All participants will enjoy delicious meals during the sessions from Thursday through Saturday.

Who Can Participate?

This basic training is open to anyone whose work involves conflict and will be particularly interesting to lawyers who wish to apply to be on the mediator court rosters for divorce and family work.

Venue

Wainwright House
260 Stuyvesant Avenue, Rye, NY 10580

Experience tranquility and inspiration on Wainwright House’s five acres of organic lawns and gardens overlooking Milton Harbor on Long Island Sound. Please note that restrooms at the retreat are shared.

Fonrose House: Sleeps up to 16 people in 5 bedrooms. There are 4 bathrooms, living room, dining room, kitchen, patio overlooking the water.
Carriage House: Has 4 bedrooms with 2 twin beds, 2 bathrooms and small kitchenette. There is no seating
area in the Carriage House.
Main House: 3rd floor, 4 bedrooms with twin beds, 2 bathrooms. There is no kitchenette or seating area on the third floor.

Cost

The program training fee is $1200 plus a fee for the facility, lodging, and meals as follows:

Private room: $800 for a total of $2,000.

Shared double room: $400 for a total of $1,600.

Commuter for those not staying at Wainwright:  $300, for a total of $1,500.

Financial aid may be available for training fees.  Please contact us at [email protected] for details or for any questions regarding logistics.

**Those who register for the 16-hour Advanced Matrimonial Mediation Training course in May, 2024 are also eligible to receive a 10% training fee discount, in addition to a 40-hour Mediation Training Certificate. Please contact [email protected] if this applies to you.

***The maximum discount available from all sources is 10% of the training fee.

Who Are the Trainers?

Katherine Eisold Miller is an attorney practicing mediation and collaborative practice in Westchester County, NY. She has been practicing family law since 1987, first as a litigator and now exclusively outside the court system. She has taught family law at the White Institute and NYU as well as with the Center and lectures regularly on mediation and collaborative practice. She is a Board member of the New York Association of Collaborative Professionals.

Ivan Alter is a collaborative attorney and mediator with offices in Westchester County and New York City. Practicing law since 1994, Ivan previously had a career as a commercial and matrimonial litigator before discovering the understanding based model at the CUC. Since then, Ivan has focused all of his professional energies on practicing, promoting, and teaching mediation and collaborative law. He is member of the New York Association of Collaborative Professionals, the Family and Divorce Mediation Council, the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals, and Northern Westchester Collaborative Divorce.

Michelle Exline Minovi is a highly skilled divorce and family mediator with 12+ years family law experience.  As Managing Attorney at the legal services non-profit Ayuda in Washington, D.C., Michelle represented low-income and Spanish-speaking immigrant clients in complex matrimonial cases in the context of domestic violence. After moving to Brooklyn, Michelle litigated and won sole custody on behalf of a mother of two children who was forced to leave the ultra-orthodox community because she identified as queer. After three years of intense litigation, Michelle wondered if there was an alternative way to divorce. Michelle knew she had to pivot from litigation to mediation when she took her first mediation training at the Center for Understanding Conflict.

Is there Continuing Education Credit?

New York

In New York, The Mediation Intensive Training will fulfill 27 NY MCLE credit hours (4 Ethics credits; 13 Professional Practice credits; and 10 Skills credits).  For continuing legal education purposes, the Mediation Intensive Training is appropriate for both newly admitted and experienced attorneys.

New York CLE Approved for both newly admitted and experienced attorneys.
27 CLE Hours (include 4 Ethics). Approved under Part 146 by the NYS Unified Court System’s Office of ADR Programs.  This course meets the 24-hour requirement for Initial Mediation Training. *

The Center’s in-person and online training has been approved under Part 146 by the New York State Unified Court System’s Office of ADR Programs. (Please note that final placement on any court roster is at the discretion of the local Administrative Judge and participation in a course that is either approved or pending approval does not guarantee placement on a local court roster.)

Cancellation Policy

Please note our cancellation policy: If you cancel 4 weeks or more prior to the program, we return your deposit minus a $250.00 administration fee. Between 4 and 2 weeks prior to the program, we retain 50% of the total cost of the program unless we are able to find a replacement for your seat, in which case we will refund the fee minus the $250.00 administration fee. There are no refunds for cancellations less than two weeks prior to the program unless we can find a replacement.

For additional information, please email us at [email protected] or call us at (844) 242-3428.

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^[1] Final placement on any court roster is at the discretion of the local Administrative Judge and participation in a course that is approved does not guarantee placement on a local court roster.  Pursuant to Part 146, court-based mediation rosters require both a combination of mediation training and experience mediating.  Acceptance on court rosters depends on a court’s need for mediators at any given time and may include a court’s need for mediators with specific case-type training or experience and mediation experience.

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