News
Welcome to our news section. Our latest news will appear here.
Accreditation and SCMN
In my recent blog I mentioned the Scottish Community Mediation Network, or SCMN. This network is for mediators and managers that deliver community and homelessness mediation services. It provides a space to share successes, shed light on learning and discuss initiatives. Since 2007, the SCMN has supported three accreditation schemes. These accreditation schemes are for services, mediators and training providers.
It has been my pleasure to support these schemes over the years. Nowadays I train assessors and run awareness workshops for mediators and service managers, together with providing administrative support. When I reflect on the work that underpins these schemes, what strikes me is that the reasons for people taking part, becoming accredited, can vary hugely. And yet the outcome is often similar.
Conflict can be Creative!
A while ago I was at one of the meetings for the Scottish Community Mediation Network (SCMN) and heard from mediators around Scotland. Listening to the mediators around the virtual room, what struck me was not only the flexibility required as a mediator – different clients requiring different levels of support and types of approach, but also how creative clients can be in sorting out the issues between them. And this got me thinking about the role of creativity in mediation.
Mediators are not there to tell people what to do, but rather to help people listen to each other, share how the conflict has been affecting them and together construct a way forward that sorts out their problems. The energy - the creativity – in this process firmly sits with the clients. However, mediators can be creative.
Selling Mediation
It’s now just over a month until our workshop on the subject of Selling Mediation. Aimed at those mediators who want to learn more about ways to put across what mediation and help potential clients overcome their fears and concerns. Awareness of mediation here in Scotland has grown over the years, but there are still misconceptions and a lot of the population hasn’t heard of mediation. Some confuse it with meditation, or even medication!
For many, it is a novel approach to conflict, and so the mediator needs to patiently and carefully take them through explaining what it is, the process and how they can be supported and kept safe throughout.
For more information about this workshop or to book a space, visit our training calendar.
Mediation training starts soon
In three weeks’ time, our popular Mediation Skills course begins. We run this accredited training four times a year and welcome learners from all walks of life. With our August course near-full, we’re now taking bookings for our December course. Feedback from learners has been consistently good, with evaluations giving a rating of 4 or 5 out of 5 over the past twelve months.
So what can you expect from this training? The course takes learners through all stages of the mediation process – from introducing mediation, working through clients’ concerns, through to the final full mediation meeting. It is a practical, interactive and fun course.
When can conflict be good?
Usually conflict is presented as something that is negative, and that there is one side seen as right and the other as wrong. These two factors have an impact on how people view, and work with conflict. Conflict being portrayed as something that is negative and, separately, that the two sides in a conflict always consist of one agent who is in the right and the other in the wrong, act as masks to a broader understanding and appreciation of conflict. It can cause a ‘flight, fight or freeze’ response, none of which helps sort out a conflict amicably.
On our Mediation Skills training, one of the things we look at are the different conflict management styles people use, and how this may vary from one situation to another. We also propose that conflict can be helpful, can even be good. For some, this may come as a surprise.
RSS