Mediation Training

Mediation Training

Training for Mediators and Conflict Management Professionals

New York Center for Interpersonal Development (NYCID) regularly provides trainings in basic mediation, family and divorce mediation, and related topics.

These trainings are open to all members of the community who are interested in using mediation skills, whether through our apprenticeship program to be a community volunteer mediator, or in other contexts. We also host a monthly “Spotlight Series” for members of the community, focusing on the work of our mediators and providing opportunities for education, practice and dialogue about various mediation topics.

NYCID also connects its mediators with opportunities to receive trainings in particular areas, such as Special Education Mediation, through other organizations.

The New York Center for Interpersonal Development’s Training Institute specializes in designing and facilitating dynamic training and workshops that serve the needs and interests of our professional staff as well as our partnering clients: schools, public and private agencies, businesses, community groups, parents and individuals.

All of our facilitators bring their professional experience, knowledge, and skills directly from the field into our training events. Our training provides participants with concepts, strategies, and techniques highly relevant to their professional and personal lives, and take place in an engaging and enjoyable learning environment.

Directly informed by our extensive experience in both the conflict management and youth development fields, NYCID’s Training Institute promotes best-practice methods that are based on asset-building, effective communication, violence prevention and intercultural awareness and respect.

Trainings, Facilitation and Professional Development Services:

  • Trainings for Mediators and Conflict Management Professionals
  • Trainings for Organizations and Businesses
  • Community-Based Trainings
  • Trainings for Youth Development Professionals
  • Trainings for Public and Private Schools
  • Peer Mediation Program Design, Training & Implementation
  • Staff Development for Schools and Youth Service Organizations
  • Parent A.C.T. Trainings – Assisting Children Through Transition
  • Customized programs developed to suit your specific training needs

Trainings for Organizations and Businesses

New York Center for Interpersonal Development (NYCID) provides dynamic, exciting workshops in Interpersonal Communication (typically 1 day), Negotiation (typically 1 day), Mediation Skills (typically 2 days) and Advanced Mediation Skills (typically 4 days) for a variety of organizations, all on a fee-for-service basis. Our workshops typically serve a maximum of 20 participants. We provide customized services for each workshop, as well as post-workshop reinforcement activities and excercises as applicable. These workshops are extremely valuable to organizations addressing conflict in the workplace or trying to design systems and train people in how to deal with conflict more effectively.

Our customizing of workshops involves putting our ideas into a high level of context for the participants (for example, by using examples and role play excercises in the context of the participants’ workplace). In addition, our customization of workshops involves creating a custom-tailored product to meet specific organizational needs. For example, we can:

  • train executives or human resource managers to use a hybrid mediation/management process to more effectively manage their subordinates;
  • train human resource personnel to implement a hybrid mediation/negotiation process for utilization with their company’s personnel;
  • facilitate the design and implementation of an organizational conflict management process;
  • assess current conflict management processes and provide recommendations for future structure and conflict management systems design; and
  • provide a variety of services to help a business or organization handle conflict more effectively.

We also provide public speakers for a variety of one day events, on a fee-for-service basis, to educate large groups about our conflict resolution techniques.


Trainings for Schools (Faculty & Students)

  • * NYCID is an approved NYC Department of Education Vendor.*
  • * NYCID is an official vendor with both the Safe & Supportive School Communities and the School Services programs.*

NYCID has a long and successful history of partnering with New York City public and private schools to provide teachers, staff, students and parents with the highest quality trainings, after-school programming, mediation and conflict resolution services.

NYCID’s trainings are highly interactive and designed to build on participants’ experience and knowledge. We appeal to each learning style: visual, auditory and kinesthetic. Our professional facilitators are highly prepared and equipped to teach on the full range of contemporary urban youth development topics.


Peer Mediation Program Trainings and Staff Development
for Schools and Youth-Serving Organizations

Peer Mediation Program Training for Staff

  • This is an intensive training designed to teach staff the strategies, procedures and skills of implementing and managing a peer mediation program. In this highly interactive training staff will explore the concepts surrounding conflict and practice the skills needed to assist parties in talking out disputes and collaborating to find solutions. Appropriate, context-based methods for supervising youth mediators will also be an important focus of this training.
  • This training can accommodate up to 20 participants. In addition to training specific staff who have made a commitment to implement and manage the peer mediation program, it would be appropriate to train other staff members who might play a less direct, more supportive role in the program. The skills and techniques taught are highly transferrable to classroom/group management and counseling situations.

Peer Mediation Training for Youth

  • This interactive training thoroughly prepares young people to mediate the disputes of their peers.
  • Participants will examine the nature of conflict, how individuals respond to conflict, and alternative approaches to resolving conflict.
  • Participants will learn and practice the fundamental skills required to serve as neutral third-party peer mediators.
  • Participants will learn problem-solving, conflict de-escalation techniques and effective communication skills.
  • This training will also take youth through reflective activities that promote respect among people of diverse backgrounds, experiences and points of view.

Staff Development & Youth Support Services

  • Our peer mediation support services include ongoing instruction and technical assistance to staff working to implement a fully operational and successful Peer Mediation Center in their school or organization.
  • Staff is supported to create a blueprint tailored to their site that identifies goals, creates policies, procedures and schedules and details plans to integrate the peer mediation program into the school/organization’s community.
  • Staff is provided with strategies, techniques and materials for ongoing supervision, skill development and recruitment of the youth mediators.
  • The youth mediators are supported with regular follow-up sessions and workshops that focus on skills practice and leadership development.
  • Our trainings and staff/youth support services are highly interactive and are designed to build on participants’ experience and knowledge. We appeal to each learning style: visual, auditory and kinesthetic.

Our approach is to utilize brief lectures, lively discussions, demonstrations, skill practices, role plays and small group exercises.

  • All of our training services are customized to meet the specific needs of our partners.
  • We offer affordable training packages and can work with any school budget.
  • Please note that we can provide reduced rates for government and non-profit organizations.

I loved this training. You covered so much in a short period of time and I really feel like I came away with a solid understanding of the mediation practice.

I would highly recommend this training for any attorney ~ whether you are interested in mediation or not.  The communication skills will make me a more effective fact gatherer from my clients, a more effective negotiator with my adversaries and a more effective advocate before tribunals of every kind.  For the practitioner ~ either as mediator or advocate ~ this training is indispensable.

For more information on our training programs contact:

  • Elizabeth Bonici, Assistant Director, Conflict Resolution Services
  • Tel:  (718) 947-4036
  • Email:  [email protected]