Family Mediation - Two-Year Course 2025-2026

DEFINITION OF FAMILY MEDIATION: WHAT IT IS AND HOW IT WORKS

Family Mediation is a voluntary support process, requested by the parties, in cases of termination of a couple's relationship on any legal basis. The process is aimed at the reorganization of family relationships and, in particular, at reaching concrete and lasting agreements concerning the custody and education of minors, economic and patrimonial aspects, and everything else provided for by current legislation on separation and divorce (from the AIMS portal).

In the dispute, the mediator has the role of facilitating communication between the parties involved, in the search for a dissolution and transformation of the conflict, satisfactory and shared by the parties involved.

The family mediator supports people in processing the grief caused by the loss that occurs in separation (of a partner, of love, of a sense of couple identity, of an "Us") and helps partners to transform the negative emotions that accompany separation processes into positive experiences with future prospects.

FAMILY MEDIATION: COURSE OBJECTIVES AND BENEFITS

The Shinui Center's Family Mediation Course makes its participants professionals capable of working with couples and families during separation and divorce processes, even in conflictual situations; it aims to train professionals who are experts in processing emotions and supporting the achievement of a lasting and satisfactory separation agreement for both parties, considering the possible parental relationship.

Topics will be covered on conflict, demand analysis, the family mediation process, negotiation techniques, judgment and prejudice, forgiveness, grief in separation, identity change from one "us" to another "us" and "self", violence in couples, family law in accordance with the regulations of the professional discipline of the family mediator (D.M. n. 151/2023).

The Shinui Center's Family Mediation Course also aims to introduce students to the epistemological and practical foundations of systemic theories.

But, above all, the Shinui Center's Family Mediation Course offers participants the opportunity to experience a special personal and group experience that allows for changes and transformations in the person, in interpersonal relationships and in their own lives.

STRUCTURE: DISCOVER THE STRUCTURE OF THE FAMILY MEDIATION COURSE, A COMPLETE TRAINING PATH

The family mediation course is two years long and comprises a total of 360 hours divided into teaching modules. The training hours for each year are as follows:

• Theoretical and experiential lessons (80h.)
• Theoretical thematic seminars (30h.)
• Residential weekend (30h.)

In addition, a total of 80 hours are planned over the two years to be distributed between internship and supervision, with a minimum of 30 hours of supervision and 3 cases to be brought to the exam.

Methodology

• Work on the self
• Theoretical lessons with a dialogical approach
• Simulations, exercises
• Group discussions
• Observation and study of cases in vivo and through the use of video recordings
• Readings and accompanying bibliography

Particular attention will be paid to the style and personal biography of the participants through work on the group and on the family and professional history of the individual participants.

A central feature of the pluralistic model is to ensure that choices and decisions are negotiated through a responsible co-construction between family and mediator, taking into account the specific characteristics of the families and the socio-cultural context. The Shinui pluralistic model also pays particular attention to work on the self and the self-biography of the students, to work on emotions, gender biases and cultural differences.

Lesson times and location

The lessons of the course to become a family mediator will be held at the Bergamo headquarters of the Shinui Center, via Divisione Tridentina n. 5 (or, occasionally, remotely using the Zoom platform), on Saturdays, from 9.30 to 17.30.

Supervisions

During the training course, a cycle of 30 hours of supervision conducted by an AIMS teacher is planned to accompany the student in his or her work during the internship.

The cost is 260 euros+VAT for each cycle of 5 meetings of 3 hours each and for groups of at least 6 people. The cost of individual supervisions, lasting 1h 30', is 100 euros+VAT. For those who enroll in two, the total cost is 120+VAT.

Internship

Each student must agree with the tutor or the head of the family mediation course at the Shinui Center on a 60-hour internship project. The internship includes family mediation paths with couple or family meetings. It is required to follow three cases, of which at least two directly.

Thesis and exam

The student will choose a specific topic related to the Family Mediation course, particularly interesting for him or her and emerged during the internship, developing it at a theoretical level and intertwining it with practice. In addition to the thesis, to take the AIMS exam, each student will have to produce a portfolio containing:

• Internship project
• Final internship report
• Supervision path report
• Illustration of three cases
• Course evaluation questionnaire

During the presentation and discussion of the thesis, in the presence of the association's teachers and an external teacher who is an ordinary AIMS member, the final exam to become a family mediator will be taken.

TARGET AUDIENCE

The course is aimed at psychologists, psychotherapists, social workers, lawyers, professional educators and other helping professionals who, in their daily practice, find themselves working with family conflicts or who wish to become Family Mediators to accompany couples and families in situations of separation and divorce.

FACULTY

1. Cecilia Edelstein - Head
2. Anna Consiglio
3. Luigi Ubbiali
4. Orietta Sponchiado
5. Rossana Sisana - Trainee Teacher and Group Tutor

CONTENT

The Shinui Center's Family Mediation Course is compliant with the regulatory regulations of the Family Mediator profession (D.M. n.151/2023) and responds to the needs of today's society, together with the transformations in family law over the past 10 years.

The new edition will start in March 2025. Registration is now open.

Program:

• Work on the self and conflict
• Conflict theories
• The mediation path: demand analysis in the counseling phase
• The family mediation process: from the first call to the separation agreement
• Negotiation techniques 1
• Negotiation techniques 2
• Family law and compulsory referral
• Life cycles in the family and couple / gender
• Sexuality in the couple
• The couple in crisis
• Judgment and prejudice
• Grief and forgiveness
• The genogram and its use in Family Mediation
• Systemic thinking
• The foundations of the Pluralistic Systemic Model
• Systemic approaches 1: The East Coast pioneers: Minuchin and Virginia Satir
• "Roman" approaches: emotions, use of non-verbal techniques, body language
• Systemic approaches 2: The West Coast pioneers: The Bateson group
• The Milanese approach
• Social constructionism, narrative and autobiographical approach
• The specificity of the pluralistic systemic model: narration in non-verbal expressive techniques.

In June/July, an experiential residential seminar will be held in another location, from Saturday morning to Sunday afternoon.

Around the middle of the second year, participants in the Shinui Center's Family Mediation Course must present their internship project; whenever possible, an agreement is stipulated (otherwise an agreement is signed) with the host institution where the student will carry out their practical path, including the identification of an internal referent who will sign the hours worked.

With the start of the internship, the mandatory group supervision of at least 30 hours starts, in addition to the hours of the didactic program mentioned above. Students can also request individual supervisions. The Shinui Center also offers a specialization course in Intercultural Family Mediation to allow for further study in this area.

REGISTRATION AND FEES FOR THE FAMILY MEDIATION COURSE

Candidates can access the course to become a Family Mediator by sending their professional CV with photo, a photocopy of their degree certificate and a letter of motivation to the Shinui Center's secretariat (via email). They will then be interviewed for motivation.

Applications will be considered in order of receipt, and the group will consist of a maximum of 15 students per year.

The registration fee for the course is € 80 + VAT.

The annual cost of the course is € 1,800 + VAT, payable in 3 installments.

The cost of group supervisions is € 260 + VAT for each cycle of 5 meetings of 3 hours each.

The cost of individual supervisions, lasting 1h 30', is € 100 + VAT.

Payment can be made by bank transfer:

IBAN: IT 10 S 05034 11109 000000001701

Supporting bank: Credito Bergamasco - Agenzia di Città Alta

For more information, please contact the secretariat.

COURSE SCHEDULE, LESSON DATES AND TIMES

• Lessons 2024
• 04/06/2024 Lesson 2: The Genogram 1 - Cecilia Edelstein
• 20/04/2024 Online Seminar: The Epistemological Framework of the Pluralistic Systemic Approach - Cecilia Edelstein
• 11/05/2024 Lesson 3: The Genogram 2 - Rossana Sisana with Cecilia Edelstein
• 08/06/2024 Lesson 4: Systemic Theories, Axioms of Communication and CMM (Coordinated Management of Meaning - Emanuele Zanaboni and Rossana Sisana
• 29-30/06/2024 Residential Seminar
• 06/07/2024 Lesson 5: Milanese Techniques in Mediation: The Circular Conversation - Emanuele Zanaboni and Rossana Sisana
• 14/09/2024 Lesson 6: Narrative Approach in the Helping Relationship - Emanuele Zanaboni and Rossana Sisana
• 21/09/2024 Seminar: Act and Sin. Gift and Forgiveness - Cecilia Edelstein
• 12/10/2024 Lesson 7: Pluralistic Systemic Approach in Mediation: Narration in Non-Verbal Expressive Techniques - Luigi Ubbiali
• Seminar: The Couple in Crisis - Cecilia Edelstein
• 09/11/2024 Lesson 8: The East Coast from the Systemic Pioneers to Virginia Satir - Cecilia Edelstein
• 30/11/2024 Lesson 9: Salvador Minuchin and "Roman" Approaches - Cecilia Edelstein
• 14/12/2024 Lesson 10: Closing of the Lesson Path, In-Depth Studies and Exercises - Cecilia Edelstein
• Lesson Schedule 2025
• Lesson1 Self-work around the theme of conflict - Cecilia Edelstein
• Lesson 2 Conflict Theory - Orietta Sponchiado
• Lesson 3 Demand Analysis in the Consultation Phase - Orietta Sponchiado
• Lesson 4 The Process in Family Mediation - Cecilia Edelstein
• Lesson 5 Judgment and Prejudice - Cecilia Edelstein
• Lesson 6 Grief and Trauma of Separation in Mediation - Silvia Luraschi and Rossana Sisana
• Lesson 7Negotiation Techniques 1 - Cecilia Edelstein
• Lesson 8 Negotiation Techniques 2 - Orietta Sponchiado
• Lesson 9 Family Law, Cartabia Reform, Regulation of the Mediator's Profession - Paola Bergamini and Rossana Sisana /Legislation and Society - Cecilia Edelstein
• Lesson 10 End of Year - Cecilia Edelstein
• Seminar Violence in the Couple
• The theme of the seminars for the 2025 course is still to be defined.
• The residential seminar will be held on June 14-15, 2025.