This is a course in English, so being fluent in English is a must, if you want to attend it. 

Conflict makes us feel stuck.  We can’t believe that the other person is behaving this way and we’re frustrated that nothing we do or say seems to help. Being in a state of conflict affects both our behavior and our capacity to communicate effectively.

When we find ourselves in conflict, we:

• Lose our self-confidence;
• Feel unable to resolve our own problems;
• We don’t know what all the resources available to us during the conflict are;
• We are no longer the embodiment of our own values;
• We feel we are no longer in control of our life;
• We lack the capacity to really listen to the other person and understand his/her perspective.

In this course, you will learn how to:

• Shift the quality of your interaction from negative to positive
• Be co-operative rather than adversarial;
• Humanize rather than objectify the other party

There isn’t one person in the world who wouldn’t benefit tremendously from learning and practicing the skills of mediation. Conflict is not determined or defined by the existence of a crisis, of a fight or of a threat. It is defined by the absence of a natural flow of communication in a given relationship, be it a personal or professional one.

The absence of that flow happens when one or both parties to a conflict seem to be unwilling or unable to listen to the other or to care about the other’s needs and desires.

You have most certainly experienced conflict in many forms:

• Within various teams you’ve worked with. Perhaps you couldn’t get your idea through or your idea was blatantly rejected;
• Within your family, when your needs have been neglected or you have chosen to ignore other family members’ needs;
• Within your community, where you or other members of the community were unable to see the common interest over the immediate individual benefit;
• With your life partner, with your teenage child, with your elderly parent. You cannot seem to make yourself heard or you feel you’ve had “enough” of the other person’s attitude and behavior.

This course is for team members, for those who lead teams and projects, those who work in environments where aggressive-competitive, rather than empathic behavior, is the norm. It is also for people who want to learn how to appease conflicts within their families, people interested in the field of mediation, law students, psychology students

Note: This is NOT a legal mediation course, but a relational mediation training program, that includes decision-making, strategic communication, moderating and mediation techniques. 

Unlike negotiation, which is an interest-based bargaining over power and resources, mediation focuses on preserving and redefining the relationship between the parties in conflict.

Here are the topics we will discuss during the 5 sessions:

1. The differences between relational mediation and negotiation or other dispute resolution styles. Creating the neutral space for the parties in conflict. How can the mediator be neutral. How can we (as a party in conflict, in the absence of a mediator) stay objective and empathic to the other’s situation? What are the mental and emotional connection and reactions between the parties in conflict and how do they affect the result of mediation.

2. How we make decisions when we are in conflict or in a crisis situation. Role Play.

3. Relational mediation in the office/in professional relationships. Conflicts with team members; conflicts with management; conflicts within your own team; conflicts with clients. How to manage differences of opinion in teams; How to build a cohesive vision as a team leader, when conflicting interests exist.

4. How to mediate conflict between teams. Role Plays.

5. Relational mediation in your personal life – with your partner, children, parents etc. Mediation skills for conflicts within your immediate family: parents and children. Be right or be kind? Main reasons of family conflicts. What is a mediation agreement and how to set one up (non-legal, informal, but binding) when resolving a family conflict.

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