Today I was invited to attend an advanced facilitative mediation training session. It was a bit of a shock for me after 2 years of Camden community mediation, which uses the transformative approach. I found myself quite lost for words, and instead of being non-directional as I would usually, I found myself telling them what to think but failing to test the reality of the’clients’ expectations to help them change their perspective. All in all, it was interesting to discover how far removed the approaces are.

I also heard more detail about the upcoming workplace mediation scheme, which will be run by the Civil Mediation Council. This is great news because ne legislation will make it more or less mandatory for employers to consider mediation as a means of solving workplace disputes. I was surprised to hear that a workplace mediation company needs only 2 mediators to become established. Maybe there’ll be a chance for me to establish or join one after graduation.

Another unexpected pleasure was meeting 2 of the people who I had originally taken my certification course with.