Advoz Education & Training

Conflict is a healthy part of relationships, teams, and the community. How do we make it an opportunity?

This experiential nine-hour course builds on participants’ existing wisdom to introduce language, concepts, and skills of healthy conflict resolution and restorative practices. Using the interactive capabilities of Zoom videoconferencing, expect to be energized and empowered to increase restorative practices in your work and life and to be prepared for Advoz’s intermediate courses. This course includes: 

1. Conflict & Harm, Introduction to Concepts and Skills
   1. Defining “Healthy Conflict?”
   2. Your own Conflict Styles Assessment and Reflection
   3. Third Party Collaboration – How Mediation and Restorative Practices are different from other approaches
2. Culture, Inclusion & Harm/Trauma
   1. Harm & Trauma Awareness in Facilitation
   2. Working with Bias, Mainstream & Margins in Conflict
3. Communication and Restorative Listening Practices
   1. Power of Listening – Mindful Listening and Blocks to Listening
   2. Naming and Affirming Emotions – Empathic Listening
   3. Facilitating Clarity – Interests vs. Positions

CLEs are available for PA-registered attorneys including 2 ethics credits for working with diversity and trauma of clients and colleagues. CEUs are available for Licensed Social Workers and Marriage and Family Therapists.

Please contact chris@advoz.org with any questions.

Make a difference for families going through a critical and often traumatic life-transition. This three-day training walks through the elements of mediating conversations for couples going through divorce, custody and co-parenting negotiations. Trainees are expected to have had Basic Mediation Training (30+ hours). In this advanced training, you will learn and practice:

• Divorce Mediation Process
• Helping Parties with Assets and Property Division
• Navigating Child Support
• Helping Parties with Parenting Arrangements

For those who are using the training for professional development purposes, CLEs are available for attorneys; CEUs will be available for social workers, professional counselors, and marriage and family therapists.

Please contact chrisw@advoz.org with any questions.

Note: Conflict, Communication & Culture (above) is required for qualification in this Advoz training.

When people cause harm to others, who is responsible? And how might they make things right?

A growing number of advocates, researchers and public servants from across the political spectrum recognize the power of restorative approaches to harm and crime that involve those harmed (victims), those who’ve harmed (offenders) and the community around them to make things right. Restorative justice is a process of accountability and healing for those involved in harm with reported high satisfaction by an average of 90% of those participating.

Advoz has been coordinating restorative justice in Lancaster County and beyond for 25 years and seeks to equip volunteers to facilitate, primarily with youth who’ve caused harm and those they have harmed.

This interactive online training equips you to facilitate restorative “conferencing” dialogue and to understand the local systems in which that dialogue takes place. In sessions built around role playing the successive elements of this process, participants will learn:

• The restorative victim-offender conferencing process
• Juvenile court and probation systems
• Victim rights and needs
• Confidentiality and ethics
• Communication and listening skills
• Online facilitation techniques

Please contact krista@advoz.org with any questions.

Note: The Conflict, Communication & Culture course is required to take this Advoz training.

Would you like to help others and yourself resolve conflict constructively? This training prepares you to use effective communication skills and the facilitative mediation structure to help people listen and resolve their own disputes, including ethical considerations of using the process in Pennsylvania.

Multiple role plays enable you to practice your new mediator skills and leave you more prepared to handle conflict both in the workplace and in your personal life!

CLEs are available for attorneys including 1 ethics credit.

Please contact chris@advoz.org with any questions.

Note: This is an intermediate training requiring experience in Advoz’s Mediation & Restorative Justice programs, Conflict, Communication & Culture, or an equivalent.

Learn to convene a Circle Process to build community and address tough issues and harmful incidents in groups of 5-20 people. Drawing from indigenous traditions of inclusive and structured group process, the Circle Process requires facilitator skills both to conduct and trust the group’s capacity for addressing its needs and challenges. The curriculum will cover the following:

• Uses of Circle Process
• Opening the Circle
• Using a Talking Piece
• Trusting the Circle Process
• Questions to Ask
• Closing the Circle

Please contact chris@advoz.org with any questions.

* Courses require Advoz’s Conflict, Communication and Culture training before intermediate courses in Restorative Justice, Mediation and Circle Process. Please contact the course coordinator with any questions.