TRAINING AND SEMINARS: 2009

(subject to enrollment;  link to: www.rbenjamin.com for registration details. Intensive courses can be custom designed for participants and presented wherever there is sufficient interest.)

BASIC COURSES:   Family, Divorce and Business Negotiation/Mediation of Disputes.  Professional Grade Intensive Course in basic strategies, techniques, skills and applied theory;  useful for all mediators---family and divorce and business commercial. (5 da/40hrs). $1175;  $125 deposit required for registration.  Approved and generally available for CLE/CEU credit.  Basic courses in other dispute contexts ranging from 3-5 days.  Register by mail.

• March 24-28, 2009- Portland, Oregon;   
• June 2-6, 2009- Portland, Oregon
• July/August, 2009-St. Louis, MO, at WashingtonUniversity-GWBSchool of Social Work

ADVANCED NEGOTIATION/MEDIATION TRAINING PROGRAMS.  Generally, (2da/16 hrs).  $525.  Courses for experienced practitioners or those who have completed a basic course.  Issues tailored to be relevant to participants including, managing impasse, assessing and managing high conflict, creative problem solving, role of the mediator,  power balance,  styles and approaches, and professional and ethical issues.  Some courses are focused on particular dispute contexts, such as health care, employment and workplace, educations, business, personal injury and medical treatment disputes, and advanced family and divorce. Topics will be honed to particular substance areas, for example, managing complex property and financial responsibility issues, dealing with professional and technical experts, assessing the conflict terrain and creative problem solving.  Courses offered subject to minimum and maximum participant enrollment.  Available for CLE/CEU credit in most venues.

• April 24-25, 2009, Portland, Oregon: 
•  May 8-9, 2009-Portland, Oregon,  Special Issues in Family and Divorce Mediation
• June 12-13, 2009-Portland, Oregon, Advanced Negotiation/Mediation Training  in Health Care
• June 25, 2009-Phoenix, AZ, Arizona State Bar Association; 1da training.  1da. “Street smart Negotiation and Mediation Strategies, Techniques and Skills.”

WHY LEARN HOW TO MEDIATE

Resolving conflicts constructively to manage the stress of a business dispute, workplace, health care or organizational or family-divorce conflict takes special skills and talents. There are usually economic, legal and interpersonal considerations that must be addressed, whatever the origin or context of the dispute. Roles, rights, responsibilities and relationships need to be realigned and the personal financial, and legal issues must be resolved so that the parties can move beyond the conflict and resume their primary responsibilities.

Most professionals who work with family, business, or other conflicts have recognized the need to have a safe, thoughtful, sensible and efficient process to settle disputes. Mediation is being used with increasing frequency to resolve those conflicts. Mediation offers an effective means for parties to maintain control of the restructuring of their personal and business relationships. The mediator, skilled in effective negotiation and problem-solving strategies, facilitates the planning process. As a result, mediation can often reduce the unnecessary delay and expense that often occurs in the traditional legal system, and minimize the unnecessary stress and animosity that comes about in most family and business conflicts.

The role of the mediator, however, while it draws on one's expertise and experience, is different and apart from that of a lawyer, counselor, or businessperson. The mediator, in effect, must be able to effectively negotiate his or her authority with the parties and facilitate the negotiation between disputing parties. This requires special skills, strategies and techniques, and an understanding of the potential professional role conflicts and ethical issues that may arise in serving as a mediator.

The training programs presented below all directly address the unique role and responsibilities of a mediator in different substantive contexts. While the theory and skills, strategies and techniques are substantially the same, there are differences in the mediator's style, approach, and structuring of the process in each conflict context. For those dedicated to the practice of mediation, being competent in all contexts of practice allows one to be more effective in the management of any particular conflict.

Courses can be designed for virtually any context in which a conflict may arise. (See "Custom-Designed Courses" below.) Below, however, are courses that are regularly presented in common conflict contexts.

 Registration:

Unless otherwise noted, register directly with Mediation and Conflict Management Services.

  The Portland, Oregon Programs are private subscription courses. Participation will be limited. Group discounts are available, and special rates are available for participants who have enrolled in previous training programs.