Training to Facilitate

Building skills to mediate and facilitate restorative practices is essential to furthering this work in the community. Advoz empowers community members–as volunteers and professional partners–to convene structured dialogue that can resolve conflict, restore relationships and bring out the best in groups. Increase your personal and professional capacity to make deep change through an Advoz training:

Introduction to Restorative Practices & Mediation: Conflict, Communication & Culture – August 26 & September 15, 2023. Virtual course (3 hours for 3 days) January 23-25, 2024
Group Circle Process Facilitator Training – COMING SOON!
Basic Mediation Training – Coming Fall 2023
Custody and Divorce Mediation Training – Coming Fall 2023
Restorative Justice Conferencing Facilitation (40 hrs) – July 29 – July 15 (hybrid course weekly)

“The breakout rooms where we were able to practice the techniques helped to infuse understanding at a deeper level.“
Course participant from Winter 2022

Introduction to Restorative Practices & Mediation:
Conflict, Communication & Culture Training

Saturday, August 26, 2023, 9 AM – 5 PM or Friday, September 15, 2023, 9 AM – 5 PM

Tuesday, January 23-25, 2024, 3-6 PM *VIRTUAL

* Required for qualification in all other Advoz trainings.

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

This experiential eight-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.

Please contact chris@advoz.org with any questions.

“I appreciated the sense of community and the opportunity to learn from one another. The level of respect for everyone was evident.“
Course Participant from Winter 2022

Comprehensive Mediation Training –

Introductory, Basic & Custody-Divorce Mediation

Note: Introduction to Conflict, Communication & Culture is required for qualification in this Advoz training, which can be included in this registration

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

The Basic Mediation Training enables you to practice the process and the skills in multiple role plays, leaving you more prepared to handle conflict in the workplace and your personal life.

Introduction to Conflict, Communication & Culture
Awareness of Conflict Dynamics
Active Listening
Supportive Listening
The Facilitative Mediation Model
Practicing the Five Stages
Practicing Multi-partiality
Standards and Ethics of Mediation in Pennsylvania

Custody-Divorce Mediation Training (20 hrs) continues your advanced training. You can make a difference for families going through critical and often traumatic life transitions. This training walks through the elements of mediating conversations for couples going through divorce, custody and co-parenting negotiations.

The Custody & Divorce Mediation Process
Helping Parties with Assets and Property Division
Navigating Child Support
Assisting Parties with Parenting Arrangements

For those 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.

“I liked the clear frameworks for understanding the topics and why they matter…and the connections with like-minded participants.“
Course participant from Winter 2022

Restorative Justice Conferencing Training

Learn to Facilitate Dialogue with Those Who’ve Been Harmed and Caused Harm

Note: Conflict, Communication & Culture Course (above) is required for 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.

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

I’ve sat through a lot of trainings and unlike most of them, there wasn’t a minute when I thought, “what am doing here?” This was an effective, relevant training!
Course Participant from Winter 2022

Circle Process Facilitator Training

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

Learn to convene a Circle Process for groups of 5-20 people to address tough issues and harmful incidents. 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

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

Please contact chris@advoz.org with any questions.

Other trainings:

Advoz provides additional trainings on a semi-regular basis including:

Mediation/Facilitator Continuing Education & Skill Share
Communication & Conflict Resolution Theory & Skills
Advanced Mediation Training
Divorce & Custody Mediation Training
Restorative Justice Theory and Practices (Introduction, Advanced)
Advanced Restorative Schools: Community Building and Accountable Discipline for Youth
Circle Process Facilitation (also called Restorative or Peacemaking Circles)

Bring change, bring an Advoz training to your organization

Advoz provides customized trainings to numerous organizations in healthy conflict resolution, restorative practices and group facilitation to empower and equip your team to address conflict and harm in healthy ways. Here is a testimony from one positively impacted organization: