Divorce and Family Mediation

This course explores conflicts that arise in the context of families, with emphasis on mediating issues involving separation and divorce. It is designed to provide students with the skills and understanding needed to help parties reach agreement on matters such as child custody, visitation, division of property, distributions of debts, and support issues. Emotional issues, such as feelings of betrayal and loss, are examined, along with techniques for addressing them. Other issues such as high conflict families, domestic violence, spousal or child abuse, ethical issues in mediations, court mandated mediations, collaborative law, and mediator qualifications are also covered. Through a combination of lectures, demonstrations, discussions and role-play exercises, students will learn the fundamental concepts and basic skills that underlie the divorce and family mediation framework. Students completing the course earn one experiential learning credit and one skills credit (SKR2).