About the Course

This course takes place over two consecutive days, from 8:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. (Eastern Time). Please note that the deadline to register is 48 hours prior to the start date/time of the training.

What You Will Learn

  • How to help disputants resolve a broad range of conflicts, including those occurring in the family, workplace and community.

  • Criteria/strategies for determining whether mediation is appropriate for particular cases/disputants.

  • How to effectively prepare disputants to meaningfully participate in mediation.

  • The origins and dynamics of conflict.

  • The three critical pieces of information about a dispute a mediator must identify in order to facilitate the resolution of any conflict.

  • The seven stages through which every mediation passes, and how to guide disputants through them.

  • Mediator ethics.

  • How to help disputants effectively manage their emotions during mediation.

  • How to draft disputants' agreements.

Continuing Education Credit

Lawyers: 16 hrs CLE *** Social Workers, Counselors, and Marriage and Family Therapists: 16 clock hrs *** Nurses (Ohio Board of Nursing accepts CEUs approved for Counselors, Social Workers & Marriage and Family Therapists for CNE for RNs and LPNs. *** Educators: 1.6 CEUs *** Chemical Dependency Professionals: 16 hours (RCHs) *** Psychologists (Ohio Psychological Association): 16 hours *** Human Resources Professionals (HR Certification Institute): 16 recertification hours

About Community Mediation Services

CMS was founded in 1988 as a non-profit organization, under the leadership of the Columbus Bar Association and a group of diverse public and private community leaders in Central Ohio. We are one of the largest Conflict Resolution Service Providers in Ohio, currently mediating more than 2,500 disputes per year. Our mission is to help prevent the harmful physical, emotional and economic effects of unresolved conflict by both providing and teaching peaceful and respectful strategies that allow disputants to successfully resolve their differences while also preserving their critically important personal and professional relationships.
Unlike other dispute resolution training courses, CMS’ unique, state-of-the-art approach was developed and refined as a result of the agency’s in-depth, hands-on, real world experience providing successful mediation services to many hundreds of individuals, families, organizations and communities over the agency’s nearly 30-plus years of operation. The practical, step by step techniques CMS teaches have been repeatedly tested and successfully applied to the resolution of a wide range of conflict including tenant/landlord, marital, parent/teen, neighborhood, consumer, workplace and other business disputes.

About the Presenter

Shelley Whalen

Since its inception in 1988, Shelley has been the Executive Director of Community Mediation Services of Central Ohio (CMS), She is a native of Columbus and graduate of The Ohio State University, College of Social Work. During her tenure at CMS Shelley has successfully mediated hundreds of disputes, including extremely complex cases involving government officials, Fortune 500 companies, entire neighborhoods and school districts. She was one of the original members of the Franklin County Domestic Relations Court Mediation Program Development Task Force and is a former President of the Ohio Mediation Association. She has designed and delivered professional level training in mediation and non-adversarial conflict resolution for numerous public and private organizations throughout the country including: universities, hospitals, Fortune 500 companies and multiple divisions of Ohio State government as well as the Supreme Court of Ohio, the Ohio State Bar Association and the Columbus Bar Association. For more information, please contact Shelley Whalen, Executive Director:

Refund Policy

Refunds: All refunds of training fees are subject to a $40 administrative charge and must be requested a minimum of three (3) business days prior to the start date of the training. Fees for registrants canceling fewer than three (3) business days in advance of the start date of the training are non-refundable, but may be applied toward a future Community Mediation Services of Central Ohio training for up to one (1) year from the initial registration/payment date.