Welcome to the October edition of the newsletter.
This month it includes the following items;
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Peer Support Group Meetings
Four groups met during August and September and below are outlines of the discussion and issues raised at two of the meetings;
On the evening of Wednesday 1st September the ‘West Group’ had their first Peer Support Group meeting. Consisting of Polly, Sarah, Jackie, Olga and Duncan the group managed to cover a number of very topical subjects in detail.
The first area of discussion does seem to be a reoccurring theme: Supporters at Round Table Meetings and their role. This is following a number of cases in which the supporter has been less than helpful, or has turned up unexpectedly on the day of the R/T Meeting. The group discussed the possibility of arranging seating so that supporters would be sat on the edge of the meeting although it was also felt that this may also prevent ‘helpful’ supporters from getting involved in the meeting. Another suggestion was that guidelines for supporters could be produced. This was met with enthusiasm as was the idea of regular break out sessions throughout the R/T Meeting. Finally the idea of holding brief separate meetings immediately prior to the round table meeting in order to recap ground rules and re-establish rapport was also revisited and felt to be a good idea.
The group also talked about mental health issues and signposting. It was agreed that team would be grateful for training in these areas and Polly confirmed that these are priority areas on the CPD ‘agenda’.
Finally there was discussion about the wellbeing of mediators – what can we do to ensure this? It was agreed that ongoing peer support sessions would be extremely helpful as these serve as a good opportunity to get together to talk about difficult cases or situations.
The evening was very positive indeed. It enabled the mediators to get to know each other a little better and to also cover some topics that are often on all of our minds when we are out doing cases. We will be looking forward to the next meeting!
Central Group
We talked about a number of things at our meeting including;
Case discussions
One case involved a relationship between two young people and how both families were dealing with it. One development was that the young boy had moved in with his girlfriend’s family and this had had a number of consequences, including the possibility that he would end up living in a hostel. A round table meeting was being arranged between the two mothers to get them communicating with each other and the hope would be that a further meeting could be offered, to include the young people. This is an unusual case for our service and the mediators have been skilled at working with difficult family relationships.
Another case discussed involved a man living above a single woman and displaying irrational behaviour towards her. The mediators in this case felt that there was very little they could achieve because his behaviour was so unpredictable – although they did hold a joint meeting which resulted in agreements being made. However, the man contacted the service the following day to say that he would not adhere to the agreement because his downstairs neighbour had already broken its terms and he was going to deal with it in a different way. Our discussion then moved on to how we make judgements about people and situations. In this case, the mediators seemed clear that one party was irrational and the other trying her best – but might there have been other factors to explain his behaviour and, if so, are we skilled enough to delve into those? One of the group suggested that we do make judgements about people but we might think of them as an assessment of the situation. What do other groups think about this issue – let’s discuss it further at future meetings?
Signposting
We talked about our responsibilities as mediators to try and help people, when we come across distress and need on our visits to them. We do have some signposting information for mediators but it is currently very out of date and Angela is working on updating it. Alison suggested that going to the Family Lives website and looking at Useful Links would be a really good place to start. Any further suggestions or help from mediators would be appreciated. In at least 2 recent cases, signposting has thrown a lifeline to the parties and really made a difference to them. Laurel has offered to run a mini training session on signposting and we hope to fix up a date for this early in the new year – watch out for the training plan.
Future training sessions etc.
We have plans to run training on the following topics;
The Psychology of Influence – Duncan – Wednesday 26th October
Liz Stokoe’s session – Conversation Analytic Role-Play Method (more info to follow) – Wednesday 30th November
Signposting – Laurel – Jan/Feb
Solution-focussed mediation – Maria – March/April
The topic of mental illness comes up regularly and relates to one of the cases discussed above. We are currently looking into who would be best to deliver this training and how to tailor it to meet our needs.
Central group members felt that it would make most sense to merge Groups 1 and 2 to make a larger group. We have decided on the date for our next meeting – Monday 23rd Jan at 7pm at Phil’s home in Harpenden.
Just as a reminder to the groups which have not set further dates to meet – Pat, Arran and someone from the North group (Zen or Laurel?) have offered to host the next meeting. Could the hosts choose a date and circulate it to the whole team so that others who cannot make their more local group have a choice to go elsewhere? Also, we need someone to host a South group which has not yet managed to meet. If you live in that part of the County and are willing to hold the meeting at your home, please offer a date and time. The meetings could be held in the daytime or evening.
A further reminder about observing joint meetings – this is a really good way of keeping up your practice, particularly if you’ve been unable to conduct the minimum number of round table meetings in a year. Please watch out for e-mails from the office about observing and see if you can support colleagues in this way.
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Mediation Hertfordshire AGM
A reminder that our AGM is being held in Hemel Hempstead on the evening of Tuesday 18th October. Tony Shinner from Mediation Bucks is our speaker and he will be introducing some interesting and challenging ideas about how we might develop the service. Please let the office know by e-mail if you are able to come.
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CONVERSION TO WORKPLACE MEDIATION COURSE
Once confined to specialised fields such as ?, mediation is now becoming more widely known, and used in a wide range of contexts. Because of this, established mediators are discovering new opportunities to apply their approach, skills and knowledge.
The Designs on Conflict Conversion to Workplace Mediation course enables you to translate your specialised skills into a new mediation context. Fully accredited by the Open College Network (OCN), this course offers 6 credits at level 3 – so you can gain a top level, nationally recognised qualification, and with it the confidence that your existing expertise can be used to address workplace conflicts.
The course is delivered by professional trainers and mediators with extensive experience in commercial/civil, family and community mediation settings, so they can fully support you in updating and broadening your mediation model and approach. We provide 3 full days, with a maximum of 12 participants, reflecting our commitment to top quality training.
“The trainers were fantastic and I am now confident in mediating workplace disputes”
“I enjoyed the role plays - great to have feedback on my practice, and to have gained this qualification” XXXXX, University of Herts HR manager
Conversion to Workplace Mediation is only available to mediators who have completed a recognised and accredited programme with a mediation training provider, whether in commercial/civil, family or community mediation. It is an entry requirement to send a copy of your mediator qualification when you book your place.
The course takes place over one weekend and the following Saturday (so you don’t have to take time off from work). In addition, you will be required to complete a pre course questionnaire and an evidence portfolio including written assignments.
2011 Dates and times
Saturday 12th , Sunday 13th and Saturday 19th November (9.00 coffee and tea, starting time 9.30am till 5.30pm).
Trainers/assessors
Fees £1395 + VAT
Outline
The course will cover:
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Jackie’s Leave
As some of you will know, Jackie is travelling to Australia next week to celebrate her daughter’s wedding and have a well-earned break. She will be away from 12th October and returning to work on the 7th November. Sarah has kindly offered to cover the work of the office on 4 days a week, mainly Tuesday to Friday, and I should be in on the other day. We aim to provide as smooth a service as normal but please bear with us if any gremlins enter the system – the absence of such a key team member means that expenses and other items may take slightly longer to process!
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