Child Access Mediation Training
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 • The Program
 • The Faculty
 • Schedule
 • REGISTER 
 • Manual

 

CHILD ACCESS MEDIATION TRAINING
Bethesda, Maryland

Our 20-Hour Child Access Mediation Training workshop for professionals is held at the offices of Mediation Matters in Bethesda, Maryland. This workshop is designed to provide both hands-on training and a clear framework to enable participants to work effectively with divorcing and unmarried parents who are struggling over their children. Past participants tell us that this is some of the best professional training they have ever received. We hope your experience will be the same.

Who should attend?
The only prerequisite for this training is simply that you have already completed a forty-hour divorce or basic mediation training. This workshop is for people who would like to develop the skills needed to work with parties who are involved with children. If  you are already mediating, the more experience you bring to the training, the more you will get from it. If you are just starting up, this will help.

What does this workshop include?
This interactive workshop uses a wide range of formats including video, demonstrations, discussions, simulations, lecture and music. The workshop, with a 200-page manual, covers the basic content areas of child access mediation. The training also focuses on the skills involved in becoming an effective mediator in parenting disputes.  
 
Some of the many components in this training include:
  • how to talk about custody and visitation
  • distress and disorder: emotional aspects of separation and divorce
  • screening for and addressing domestic violence
  • family systems: seeing the whole picture
  • the relation and bifurcation of custody and child support
  • Maryland domestic relations law
  • child development theory: its use and abuse in custody cases
  • parenting plans for very young children
  • the "50/50" myth
  • enmeshed mothers and entitled fathers
  • removal and relocation
  • special needs and concerns
  • writing good parenting agreements

and more.

A distinctive feature of this training is the use of videotapes for instruction, including tapes of actual mediations. The workshop includes a minimum of three mediation role-plays so that each participant can practice and develop his/her skills.

For Maryland residents, this workshop will meet the 20-hour requirement for child access mediation training under Rule 17-106(b) of the Court of Appeals in Maryland for those wishing to be approved as access mediators.

A certificate of completion, suitable for framing, will be issued to you upon successful completion of and full attendance at the training course.

Who are the faculty for the course?
The workshop will be led by:

Carl D. Schneider, Ph.D. ...Over the last twenty years Carl has trained several thousand mediators locally, nationally,  and abroad. Currently Director of Mediation Matters, Bethesda, Maryland, Carl is a registered psychologist, licensed clinical Marriage and Family Therapist, a Certified Mediator with the Maryland Council on Dispute Resolution and with the Supreme Court of Virginia, and is an Advanced Practitioner Member of the Association for Conflict Resolution (ACR).

In Maryland he is an Approved Mediator with the Frederick County Civil and Family Mediation Programs, the Howard County and Prince George's County Mediation Programs and the Montgomery County Juvenile Dependency Mediation Program. He has been the chair of the Certification Committee for the Maryland Council on Dispute Resolution.

Carl is the former Director (1981-1989) of Divorce Mediation Service, a group practice of 16 mediators in the Chicago area, and former Director of the Mediation Program of Woodbury College in Montpelier, Vermont. He has been on the Board of Directors of the national Academy of Family Mediators, the Mediation Council of Illinois, and the Family Mediation Association of Georgia. Carl is author of Shame, Exposure and Privacy (Norton, 1992) and has served on the editorial board of Mediation Quarterly. He holds a M. Div. degree from Union Theological Seminary in N.Y.C. and a Ph.D. from Harvard University.

"Strengths too numerous to enumerate here - Generally, Carl Schneider does everything in the training well - outstanding teacher, speaker, preacher, entertainer - Teaches by example - what an example!"
            Louisa Abbot, Superior Court Judge, Chatham County, Georgia


Time and Dates:

We will meet from 9:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Sunday.  Please plan to be present for the full workshop. Registration will begin at 8:45 a.m. on the first day; the workshop begins at 9:00 a.m.
Location:
The workshop will be held at the offices of Mediation Matters, 9816 Parkwood Drive, Bethesda, Maryland (click for directions).

What is the cost?
Early registration (a deposit of $175 at least thirty days prior to the workshop) is $715 (manual included). After that, the fee is $795. The full balance is due two weeks prior to the workshop with no refunds beyond that point. .

How do I register?
Send a check for $175 and a completed registration form to:

Mediation Matters
9816 Parkwood Drive
Bethesda, MD. 20814


Your registration fee is refundable, less $25 service fee, up to three weeks prior to the training. After that, the deposit is non-refundable. Registration for the workshops is limited in order to give proper attention to small groups and role plays. Since many of our workshops fill quickly, we encourage you to register early.

Should I read anything beforehand?
coverYes.  We recommend Janet Johnston and Linda Campbell's IMPASSES OF DIVORCE: THE DYNAMICS AND RESOLUTION OF FAMILY CONFLICT (Free Press, l998, $20). The book can be ordered online from Amazon.com by clicking on the cover picture to the left. Copies will also be available for purchase at the workshop.
                      

The training manual for the workshop will be distributed the first day of the training.



Accommodations:

 If you would like assistance in finding nearby inexpensive accommodations, please contact us.

Meals:
We will provide a continental breakfast in the morning, lunch, and snacks in the afternoon.

What is the attire of the workshop?
Feel free to wear clothes in which you will be comfortable. Our experience is that people often differ in what they regard as a comfortable room temperature, so please dress accordingly.

Please join us:
We hope you will be able to join us for this fine professional training. If you have any questions not answered on this page, feel free to call us at 301/581-0330 or 1-800-905-2221 outside of the Washington DC area.

“I learned more in these few days (and had more fun too) than my entire Master’s program (Yale). .. I shall never forget the experience.”
             Shelby Kay Buckman, M.S., Guardian ad Litem, New Haven, Connecticut  

Carl D. Schneider, Ph.D.
Director
Mediation Matters



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