Yep! We all have bias and it comes in all shapes and sizes. From a mediators perspective, we need to understand where our biases show up and how to manage that part of our being. This session will help you learn a practice for looking inside, before, during and after your mediations so learning continues to happen for years to come.

Is that really the best offer they are going to make? Why did his leg just start twitching? What does that expression really mean? Way beyond the facial expressions we are good at reading is a whole other system of communicating through body language. Let's look at and interpret some of the more common language and perhaps some of the not so common.

Reflective listening is often a mediators go to tool. Properly executed it can make people feel heard, help uncover interests, and lead to new possibilities in complex negotiations. Let's explore this technique together in an advanced interactive format.

Laura Weiss brings a lifetime of negotiation experience to this class. Her experience as an idea expander with IDEO will help you grasp a new tool or two that will allow you to broaden the number of potential solutions in your next mediation..

Have you ever been in a mediation and wondered if one or both of the parties had the mental capacity to negotiate and sign off on a deal? This lesson won't help you diganose a condition, but will instead help you identify when and how to make judgement calls around mental health, and it's impact on your mediation process.

This session goes way beyond the basics of open and closed styles of questions, centering on the art of asking the right question for the right moment in time. Dangerous questions and questions from the heart, bring this class to full life both in and out of the mediation room.

At one time or another we all will work with parties that don’t speak the same language. The proper use of professional interpreters is critical in these circumstances. Please join Natalia Cardillo, Interpreter Services Coordinator from the Reno Justice Court, in the exploration of the best practices for both the mediator and interpreter when working together to help the parties.

Conflict hooks are your personal hot buttons. They come from within you, not really from someone else pressing them, though that’s how we generally talk about them (He just presses my buttons). They’re based in your identity, or how you see yourself (and want others to see you) in the world. This powerful lesson provides a door to self awareness for both individuals and teams. (see Tammy Lenski’s book “The Conflict Pivot” for information on this topic)

One of the most valuable learning tools we have as practitioners is each other. Our skills around being excellent active listeners can be put to use in ways that can help other practitioners learn from their work in ways they can never get from a book or a class. When we help each other dive deep into what happened in a meeting, and see what was going on for us as the practitioner at specific points in the process, we all learn key lessons about ourselves and the process.

(Judge Hascheff of RJC will join us for TPO Part 2) We'll talk about Protection Order cases with an insider and spend as much time as we can talking about de-escalating tensions in the mediation room.

Zoom Meeting - https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7054001178?pwd=bW51RVFlMk96Wkd0eWxNclV3TUUyZz09

Protection order cases, also known as Temporary Protection Orders (TPO), are cases in which one party is seeking protection from the other party from issues like harassment, threats of violence, etc.…Our mediation model works well in these cases, and, there are some things to watch out for. If you are considering adding this type of case to your bookings, or would like to brush up on the complexities, come learn some of the special operations from those who have been there. Join us on Zoom - https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7054001178?pwd=bW51RVFlMk96Wkd0eWxNclV3TUUyZz09