Community Mediation Skills training

Comments from a delegate of CALMs March 2014 course

CALMs Community Mediation Skills Course is great opportunity to develop your
skills and gain experience and awareness of a dynamic and valuable process. I
trained in March 2014, and would recommend the course to anyone whose job or
personal life requires managing people, their conflicts and emotions. The trainers
are all very knowledgeable and helpful, pacing the course well, allowing delegates
enough time to absorb and reflect upon the information, but always keeping it lively
and interesting.

Naturally, I was nervous about the assessments, but focused training really prepared
us well. There was an emphasis on how what we learned would be applicable from
the outset, so that we knew we were not only learning valuable skills, but also
getting ready to tackle the assessments. The practical assessment was such a natural
follow on from the constructive practice we had been engaged in throughout the
course, that I really felt quite at home conducting a mediation. When it came to the
essays, I also felt very thoroughly prepared, but in the event of any problems, a
cheerful and understanding member of the team was always available and genuinely
happy to help.

I gained so much from the course, not least the social aspect; I met so many great
people, whose focus and interest overlapped with, but also complemented my own.
The opportunity to learn and practice with like-minded people really enriched the
experience, and the trainers encouraged us to draw on the experiences of others as
well our own. The structure of the course meant plenty of practice, meaning that I
now feel surprisingly confident about conducting mediations of my own. The focus
of co-mediation - self-awareness, giving and receiving constructive feedback and
supporting one another through the process allowed delegates a freedom to
develop confidence and ability; managing the process in pairs minimised the fear of
making a mistake and concentrated us very definitely on continuous and on-going
learning.
Jane Wilson, Law graduate




CALM (Confidential And Local Mediation)
Unit 10 Berghem Mews
Blythe Road
London W14 0HN
T: 020 7603 4014

info@calmmediation.org
www.calmmediation.org