Working Creatively with Conflict Through Race and Cultural Lens

40 Hour Mediation and Conflict Resolution Training

Wednesday January 10 – Sunday January 14, 2018

9 am – 5 pm, except Sunday 9 am – 4 pm

People in conflict often focus on their positions, each person advocating for the solution that they believe is the right one. Power and coercion are used to pressure the other person to concede. The discussion revolves around the “issue” at hand, ignoring the many layers and forces operating below the surface and from the outside.  Each person in the conflict is driven by what is important to them on a deeper level and is impacted by familial, cultural and societal forces, yet these are seldom explicitly examined.

Learn how to support parties working through conflict or engaging in other important conversations in a different way. In the Understanding-Based model, we look underneath the surface and explore the deeper meaning of the conflict and the forces that influence it.  In this program, we will have a special emphasis on race and culture in conflict. Participants in the program will be a racially mixed group of conflict professionals.

Highlights of our basic training, Working Creatively with Conflict, include:

• Positive neutrality – how to support all parties to a conflict without taking sides
• Enhancing understanding and empathy through the Loop of Understanding
• Developing creative options that address differing needs and interests
• Creating the groundwork for the parties to make effective and lasting decisions together now and in the future

The training will be an intensive experience, combining presentations, teacher demonstrations, self-reflection and role plays of real to life simulations.  Past participants describe these different modes of learning and their interplay as enjoyable as they are engaging and rewarding.

We also intend to work specifically with the dynamics that the diversity of backgrounds of the participants provide.  We will address the challenge of racial differences and tap into the underlying human impulse to connect. Through the participation of a racially diverse group, we expect to be learning different and new applications of the model in a variety of settings, including workplace, legal disputes, education, community and other areas of interpersonal conflicts. Participants will have the opportunity to work through mediations from beginning to end and develop skills necessary to help a wide variety of people in conflict navigate the difficult passages of emotionally charged situations.

Overall I found the program to be extremely effective and valuable to me on so many different levels professionally and personally.  I felt it opening up many different opportunities for me and avenues for further learning and exploration. I have always hated role plays but was surprised to find that I actually enjoyed the role plays here and got a lot out of them both when I played a party and a mediator.  The specific feedback during the role plays was very well done by all instructors. – Lisa Auer, San Francisco

Who Will Benefit From This Training?

This training is appropriate for mediators, 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.

“This program has changed me as an individual and will forever change the way I manage conflict, personally and professionally.”

Who are the Trainers?

Eric Butler, Catherine Conner, Gary Friedman, Natalia Lopez-Whitaker and Lacey Wilson. For more information, see their bios here.

What are the Logistics – When, Where, Cost?

Registration is between 8:30 and 9:00 on Wednesday January 10, 2018. The training begins at 9:00 am on Wednesday January 10, 2018 through 5:00pm on Sunday January 14.  On Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, the sessions run from 9 am – 5 pm. On Sunday, the session runs 9am – 4pm.  Lunch and snacks will be provided.

The training will be held at Neyborly, a gallery and creative space at 2518 San Pablo, Berkeley, California.  Click here for info. 

The program training fee is $1,350.  Payment plans and tuition reductions are available on a sliding scale.  Contact us at 844-242-3428.  Scroll down to register online.

“The information I received at this training was incredible. I have taken other mediation trainings, and I have found this method to be the standard by which others are measured. I have been able to use the techniques throughout my practice.”

Is there Continuing Education Credit?

Mental Health: The Center for Understanding in Conflict is approved by the California Psychological Association to provide continuing professional education for psychologists. The Center for Understanding in Conflict maintains responsibility for this program and its content.  BBS licensees may also receive credit from The Center for Understanding in Conflict as a provider approved by the California Psychological Association.  This course qualifies for 32 CE credits.

Legal:  The Center for Understanding in Conflict as the Center for Mediation in Law is pending renewal as an accredited provider of California Continuing Legal Education.  This course – appropriate for both newly admitted and experienced attorneys – will qualify for 32 participatory and 8 self study CA MCLE hours.

                “Overall, it was so much more than what I would or could have ever imagined it would be like.  The intensity and depth of the learning was intriguing and fulfilling. I learned so much about how important it is to get underneath the problem before you can truly begin to resolve anything.”

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