*PRACTOPIA 3-day WORKSHOP – Next TBD
*PRACTOPIA Online Community – TBD 

PRACTOPIA*
A series of workshops to help deepen mediator insight,
skill & emotional intelligence.

Session 1 Mediating Meaning…and resolving through human insight
Session 2 Keeping it Interest-Based … from Intake to Settlement (And why $ gets positional & how to stop it)
Session 3 Delivering on the Promise … facilitating a learning conversation

*Practopia: The eternal practice of learning how to be human, to communicate and to solve problems together. Never perfect, never eutopia, because we are human, but with conscious work, it will become the best it can be …a “practopia”. [after Alvin Toffler, The Third Wave 1979]

These 3 participatory day-long sessions for conflict professionals are designed to deepen keen insight and understanding of the humans at the table – our clients and ourselves – and to build a framework to continuously hone our emotional intelligence. We thoughtfully drill down another level on the elements, skills and stages of a mediation, to reflect on our ‘why’, to understand human needs, values, beliefs and emotions, and how we help clients to learn about themselves and the other. We discover tools to efficiently release cognitive & visceral power to improve creativity, communication and understanding; transform outlooks, narratives and relationships; and craft meaningful and enduring agreements.  And deliver on the promise of the mediation we promote. Participants will end up with a set of memorable and applicable core principles and adaptable tools which often are THE key settlers of conflict … whether in the commercial, community or family realm.

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Three full-day workshops: Dates TBD
Each session is eligible for 12 CE Points from ADR Institute of Ontario, toward QMed or CMed accreditation.
Maximum 10 per session to increase participation.
Cost: $190 per day-long session + HST
Register for multiple sessions: $175 per session + HST
Payment: By PAYPAL below, EFT or cheque to SPECTRA MEDIATION
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Mardi Edelstein, BA Hons, QMed, AccFM is an accredited family mediator, group facilitator, educator and communication & conflict coach, and owner of Spectra Mediation.
She has a diverse and creative background, starting in the arts, and moving into business, where as Marketing Director for Canada for a US company she humanized and revolutionized customer service, pioneered meaning-marketing, and innovated sales/marketing collaboration with results outpacing the more leveraged US.  Always a facilitator, and mediating family and cross-cultural issues in her faith community, in 2008 she formally established herself as a family and organizational mediator & conflict coach.
Over the past 12 years, she has coached and taught communication, negotiation and mediation skills to over 2000  adult, youth and senior learners both privately and for several trainers, including York University’s School of Continuing Studies (Core DR, Advanced Court Practicum & Family Mediation courses).
Mardi has found that through keen insight into our humanity, respectfully applied, she has been able to help resolve emotion-laden conflicts and both commercial and family cases deemed by Judges as ‘unlikely to settle’. It is part of her mission to help the field of mediation increase its emotional intelligence, stay true to its intent and achieve the better solutions that we intend.

~ Student and Peer Testimonials ~ You’re on to something very special Mardi, with your mediation style & philosophy… everyone felt it in the class and talked about it.  ~ researcher & mediation student 2018 You ignited a passion in me that is burning stronger than ever… Thank you for all your help in developing my new skills & habits(and un-doing some other ones).  ~ mediation student 2015 I had a coaching session with Mardi and the light went on!  ~ mediation student 2018 Mardi is the utmost professional, conscientious and compassionate in her work. She is able to hear an individual’s deeper story, to find the best means to deal with their concerns. Her work makes a difference in her clients’ outlooks, their lives, and the outcomes that follow.  ~ accredited family mediator, Family Court, 2012 Mardi made creative and smart process choices which were very suited to the needs of the clients. Even though I’ve been mediating for years, I learned some new things from her. She has a clear ability for empathy and for helping her clients understand their real interests and those of the other.  ~ lawyer co-mediator 2013

Practopia Session Details

Practopia Session 1 A hard case for soft skills. Mediating & resolving through human insight Session 1 will set the philosophical basis for the course and start to build a framework and toolbox for any style of mediation or restorative process. When we understand what is core and universal about a human being, and the nature of values and emotional logic, we can more fully and quickly identify and understand the true needs and concerns of our clients and how to help fulfill them. We will drill down into our key reflecting tools with increased clarity and insight. We will re-assess emotions, behaviours, motives and human differences, and rewrite what we may believe about conflict. We will explore our why and core beliefs, our role, our ability to authentically model best practices, and learn what works and what may block insight and progress. We will expand our emotional vocabulary and go beyond interests to meaning, to facilitate richer and more resourceful conversations and agreements. (Includes group and dyad exercises & role play)

Practopia Session 2 Keeping it Interest-Based … from Intake to Settlement (and why $$$ gets positional & how to stop it) Once we do our interest-based work to understand the problem, how often do we snap back to positional bargaining when the options start to flow? How do we prevent this from happening and assist clients to come up with creative, fearless and innovative interest-based solutions that leave no one feeling significantly compromised? We will take the day to revisit each stage of a mediation, from Intake to Intro, Information-gathering to Option-generation, and demonstrate how a consonant and conscious thread can lead to more meaningful, enduring agreements and skill-building. We will visit a Toolkit based in Neuroscience and Emotional Intelligence. And we will take a new look at money and substance and meaning, to prevent devolving into positional bargaining when approaching them. (Includes individual exercises & role play)

Practopia Session 3 Delivering on the Promise … facilitating a learning conversation We describe mediation to our clients as “an assisted negotiation or conversation”, yet how often do we deliver on that promise? How many times do our clients get to the stage where they are having conversations and searching together for solutions? We will learn techniques and approaches to change the dynamics at the table from having 2 conversations to truly facilitating one. Through role play and exercises, we will focus on understanding and learning as the key activity, and on the clients as partners in problem-solving. We will explore ways to prepare clients for mediation to make them better participants, and methods to pre-empt common barriers to communication, empowering them with new insights, empathy and skills to ensure greater levels of success in the mediation and forward into their lives. (Includes group exercises and role play)

Pick Your Practopia Session and Register

Choose one option only.
[An Invoice will be provided by Spectra Mediation HST No 81335 6581 RT0001]

Practopia Session 1 (Date TBD) $190 + HST	Practopia Session 2 (Date TBD) $190 + HST	Practopia Session 3 (Date TBD) $190 + HST
	Practopia 3-Day Workshop $525 + HST

If you wish to attend and have financial hardship, please email.

2300 Yonge Street, Box 533, Toronto, ON M4P 3E1  416 487-4407 mardi@spectramediation.ca
www.spectramediation.ca