Accredited Mediation Training
In order to become a Member of the MII a person must complete an MII accredited training course**
All training programmes approved by the Mediators’ Institute of Ireland are assessed against specific criteria based on the competencies required for the various levels of membership. Please note that while the following listed training programmes have been approved by the Mediators’ Institute of Ireland (The MII), the MII is not responsible for the administration or delivery of these programmes. Also, to become a member of the MII, participants must register directly with the MII within 1 year of the date of the assessment.
Any person who is on an MII approved training programme is entitled to apply for Affiliation of the MII under the Trainee Affiliation scheme and any person who successfully completes an MII approved training programme and assessment is eligible to apply for Membership status.
Please note: Training Certificates are valid for 1 year from the date of the Assessment result. If more than 1 year has elapsed between the date of the assessment result and application for membership then applicants must retake and pass the MII skills assessment in order to apply for Membership.
Continuing Professional Development
The purpose of CPD is to ensure that Mediators keep their knowledge and skills up to date for the benefit of users of their service and for their own personal and professional development. CPD has an underlying ethical premise that asserts that clients have a right to expect competent and skilledpractitioners. Thus every Mediator has a responsibility to maintain and develop knowledge and skills, and alongside the individual responsibility, lies the professional Institute’s obligation to provide the means whereby this can happen. Most professional bodies acknowledge that CPD is a commitment to lifelong learning with an emphasis on ‘home skills’, thus for the MII, the emphasis is on mediation skills.
The MII requires that all practising Members complete a minimum of CPD hours and has agreed a CPD points system.
Family (Separating Couples) Accredited Training
From 1st April 2021, 40 hours Separating Couples training is mandatory for members who wish to be certified to mediate with Separating Couples.
Participation in this training by a person who is not, at the time of completing the training, a Member of the MII or cannot demonstrate that they have successfully completed MII Accredited Certified Training and MII Certified Assessment prior to this training, will not be recognised retrospectively should a person make an application for membership of the MII at a later date.
Modules are delivered in the areas of Family Dynamics, Principles of Mediation within a family context, Family Conflict, Separating Couples Dynamics and Conflict, Family Mediation Processes, Intimate Partner Violence, Child Focused Mediation, Child Protection, Family Law and Separating Couples mediation, Mediating Living Apart, Mediating Financial Arrangements and Drawing up Mediation Settlements. (Separating Couples course content 40 hours April 2021)
Trainers: If you are interested in applying to have a 40 hours Separating Couples training course accredited please contact info@themii.ie for application details.
Elder Mediation Accredited Training
MII recognises the importance of this unique growing area of mediation practice, and in responding to the demand for qualified Elder Mediators, providing a professional service, has established a specialist training programme for MII mediators wishing to work in this area.
EMIN is the world leader in this area and MII is delighted to have entered into a formal partnership with EMIN to enhance the progression of Elder Mediation services in Ireland. To be eligible to undertake specialist Elder Mediation training, a learner must have successfully completed MII approved Certified Mediation Training or equivalence.
From 1st January 2024, all MII members who wish to practise Elder Mediation will be required to attain and maintain an EMIN certification as a basic requirement to practise in this area. A number of MII members have undertaken Elder Mediation Training, and I would urge them to complete their certification as soon as possible.
For those MII members who have an interest in working in this area, I would encourage you to contact “Later Life Mediation” who are accredited by MII and EMIN to provide this training. The MII Family Sector intends to run a Family Zoom in the autumn to give further insight into this particular type of mediation and to answer questions from MII members interested in this area.
Child Inclusive Mediation
Child-Inclusive Mediation (CIM) provides opportunities for children and young people to have their voices heard directly during the process of mediation, to help them feel respected and listened to and, at their request, to assist parents/guardians to receive, understand and take account of the child or young person’s messages
regarding decisions and arrangements for the child or young person to be made by their parents/guardians.
All mediators should explain to parents/guardians at initial information and assessment meetings, as well as subsequently, that children and young people capable of forming their own views – aged from around 10yrs, depending on the maturity of the individual child/children, should be offered the opportunity to have a conversation with a professionally qualified mediator or child consultant in which they are invited to give their perspectives in order that their parents/guardians may take account of those perspectives in any decisions and arrangements that are being made for them.
Younger children should not be excluded from having a similar opportunity for CIM,since they are equally important members of the family.
Exceptions include where there are safeguarding concerns or where a child has learning difficulties or mental illness which would make CIM inappropriate.